First published in 1951, The Holy Sinner explores a subject that fascinated Thomas Mann to the end of his life--the origins of evil and evil's connection with magic. Here Mann uses a medieval legend about 'the exceeding mercy of God and the birth of the blessed Pope Gregory' as he used the Biblical account of Joseph as the basis for Joseph and His Brothers--illuminating with his ironic sensibility the notion of original sin and transcendence of evil.