There is nothing to keep Anton here anymore. Eleanor has left him, his job as a carer in an old people’s home offers no long-term perspective and he has never felt at home in Hamburg. His way out: grilling flapjacks at Uncle Jimmy’s in Manhattan.
Squeezed onto 30 square metres of tiled floor space, Uncle Jimmy’s luncheonette consists of 10 chairs, three employees, a menu of 150 dishes, an almighty scrimmage around the grill and a constant coming and going – and yet it still offers something like a home. This is primarily down to Jimmy. Jimmy’s world revolves around his luncheonette, this tiny oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of Manhattan island, and around another island which has long since been inaccessible to the general public, namely Alcatraz. His primary interest is focused on the infamous breakout bid of 1962, when three inmates succeeded in scaling the prison walls. Jimmy’s own forcefully expressed opinion is that they managed to reach the shore and start a new life. As Anton becomes immersed in this story, he is reminded of darker chapters from his own past, from which he would also rather have escaped. And he begins to understand why, in any situation, clinging to the belief of a better future is a vital means of survival.
