A poignantly normal, and unfortunately overweight do-gooder, who has never lived on the wild side or beyond his inhibitions, receives a terrible diagnosis: he has no more than three years left to live if his hypertension continues to get worse and he continues to be immobile. He makes a desperate decision when he learns that hard drugs are the only cure for his monstrous obesity: He goes on a “cocaine diet”.
A big stiff at heart, he meticulously records every dose and every side effect, but he soon becomes wilder, more open-minded – and thinner! He loses his character. He lies, counterfeits, cheats, suddenly has excessive amounts of sex and, with each pound lost, becomes more of a quirky cult figure in Vienna’s bohemian art scene. Only a coincidence can save him from his naïve optimism and certain demise on account of the drugs.
Joachim Lottmann’s novel is an impressive study of the soul of a man who falls into a maelstrom of decadent adventure. An anti-coming-of-age novel and a portrait of a scene with a lust for life that exists beyond the “normal” and miserable crisis-obsessed society.
“One of Germany’s most underestimated writers, envied for his grandiose talent for narration.” Sibylle Berg on Joachim Lottmann
