Common Swift
Published by Diogenes as Mauersegler
Original Title: Mauersegler
Five old friends – successful, affluent men who have shaped the country – venture into an experiment. Together they found a flatshare in a beautiful house with a sea view, and make a pact: each of them should be able to die in the way he chooses – and the others will help him. But first they enjoy their retirement. They smoke, drink, eat, what and when they want, without having wives or nurses telling them not to. When it gets serious for the first of them, they activate the ›Death Angel Programme‹ as designed by the computer buff of the flatshare. And they hire Katarina, a nurse from Kirgizia, who has her very own ideas about how to fill the villa with life again...
Contemporary Literature
224 pages
2015

978-3-257-06934-1
Christoph
Poschenrieder

Christoph Poschenrieder, born in Boston in 1964, studied philosophy in Munich and journalism in New York. He has worked as a freelance journalist, documentary film maker, technical writer and novelist. Today, he works as a tram driver in Munich. His debut, the critically acclaimed The World in the Head, was an international hit, while A Grain of Sand was nominated for the ›German Book Prize‹ in 2014.

Photo: © Daniela Agostini / Diogenes Verlag

Quotes

New Books in German, London

»This thought-provoking novel tackles serious issues with a light touch. Common Swift is a universal novel which is sure to travel well. It is reminiscent of the novels of Ian McEwan in its literary treatment of a contemporary predicament, where moral considerations are combined with a healthy dose of black humour.«