有没有任何作者的约束之下，布赫兹用自己独特的风格画出这些有主题的故事。而这些画与文学之间有着一个微妙的互动，因此编者想出一个点子：把画中的故事写出来！于是，编者把布赫兹的画寄给四十六位不同国籍的作家，请他们把藏在画中的故事写出来，大家共襄盛举，如此才使这《灵魂的出口》得以诞生。

A Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.

Each volume contains notes, addenda and synopses, and the sixth and final volume also includes a guide to the complete work.