In this same letter Nussimbaum recommended to his addressee that "she buy a copy of "Ali and Nino" herself, bragging that it was his favorite of his own books." In another letter, Nussimbaum wrote of having had only two writing experience in which "I thought neither of the publishing company, nor of royalties, but just wrote happily away. These were the books "Stalin" and "Ali and Nino"," adding that "The heroes of the novel simply come to me demanding, ‘Give us shape’ — ‘we also possess certain characteristics that you’ve left out and we want to travel, among other things.’ " (Betty Blair has interpreted this statement as an "admission" that Nussimbaum had "gained access to the original manuscripts" already written by someone else, Yusif Vavir Chamanzaminli, and had "embellished them.") Reiss also quotes other letters in which Nussimbaum identifies himself as Kurban Said. In his final, unpublished manuscript, "Der Mann der Nichts von der Liebe Verstand", Nussimbaum also refers to himself as "Ali."