Uwe Timm’s novel tells an at the same time true and phantastic story from the not-too-far-away times of big inventions and unerring belief in progress.
Coburg at the end of the 19th century: Schröder, the local taxidermist, cycles around town on a penny-farthing bicycle. This act of pioneering bravery gets the town going, outrageous things happen: Anna, the taxidermist’s wife, cycles around in a Syrian undergarment, more and more people fall on their heads and a baroness wearing a man’s clothes falls into Schröder’s arms time and again while attempting to ride the bicycle herself.
„Irony as a style has a famous pedigree in German literature. From Jean Paul and the Romantics via Thomas Mann to the present day. Uwe Timm who follows this tradition in this novel, sets himself high standards and reaches them with elegant precision.” Times Literary Supplement
