Peeling the Onion Book by Günter Grasspremium off white cream pages Stitched binding Matte cover local premium copy Language English Dimensions 5. 5 x 8. 26 inches Pages amount 317 Summary Peeling the Onion records Grass's life from his birth up until the publication of The Tin Drum (1959). In Peeling the Onion, Grass uses the image of hunger to describe the stages of his life. Literally, after the war he could not get enough to eat.