The IKEA catalogue is not just a catalogue. With over 220 Million copies, translated into 34 languages and published in 44 countries, it could be viewed as the most distributed book of our time. We asked Germany's most popular and influential literary critic, Hellmuth Karasek, to deliver the first serious review of this important piece of popular literature. His critical analysis may be the first occasion where Goethe, Freud and IKEA side tables are mentioned in short succession.