People usually read books about law in order to find out what is in them. Most books, in fact, can only be read on this level, because their only role is as a source of information. Occasionally, however, a book plays a significant enough role within a legal system that it can also be read at a second level. The commentary on German competition law edited by Ulrich Immenga and Ernst-Joachim Mestmacker (the ImmengalMestmacker commentary) is such a book. It is an exceptionally valuable source of information about German and, to a lesser extent, European Community competition law, but it has also been a powerful source of authority within the German competition law system since the first edition was published in 1981.1 To "read" it at a second level thus provides insights into the dynamics of that system. This essay explores the potential value of "reading" the work both as a source of information and as part of the competition law system.