Beck is not a man to be envied. His music career came to nothing, his safe job as a teacher bores him to tears, and his love life is a disaster. And then he discovers an incredible musical talent: his student Rauli Kantas from Lithuania. Now the mysterious boy’s manager, he sees a second chance – but he has no idea what he’s letting himself in for...

A tragicomic novel about missed opportunities and dreams grown old, about love, Bob Dylan and a road trip to Istanbul. A magical summer where everything appears possible again.

Jesper Lier, 20, has come to Berlin full of expectations: He hopes for an exciting life in the city of promise and for a fulminant start as a writer. Instead, he lives in a damp cellar on Prenzlauerberg, his novel ›The Fellow Sufferer‹ has turned into a monstrosity, and his aversion against society and the self-celebrating city has turned him into a loner. Jesper alternately consumes alcohol and sleeping pills and develops alarming daydreams. Until one day his friends Gustav and Frank turn up at his place and drag him out of his loneliness. For one crazy week, the three friends experience a Dionysian odyssey through Berlin during which Jesper not only bumps into the girl of his dreams but also many odd individuals and even his own literary characters. And they do not always mean well when they meet their author.