Matthias Egersdörfer’s outstanding debut novel
For some people, birth is the most spectacular event they’ll ever experience. Not so for little Matthias. His imaginative gifts turn his life into a series of wondrous incidents, each more spectacular than the last (his conception was like an intergalactic fireworks display). The first setback in his young life is his mother’s cooking (thankfully ameliorated by his grandmother’s saint-like care).
But life surprises Matthias with more challenges, like the battle to thank the butcher for a free sausage; the threat of Sunday visits to acquaintances whose front door looks like it came from a communist dictator’s mausoleum; Katharina, who has a laugh like yellow lemonade; or the day his grandmother says goodbye for good. As Matthias grapples with these trials, he’s forced to acknowledge his own idiosyncrasies and that they seem at odds with the world around him.
Matthias Egersdörfer’s existential, delightfully original and extremely funny debut novel tells of a young boy faced with the myriad challenges of growing up who uses his boundless imagination to dream (and fight) his way through the stormy sea of childhood and adolescence.
