When Onno – a welfare recipient in his mid-50s, a professed non-perspirer and undefeated ping-pong champion of Hamburg-Eppendorf – took on the “Mad Man from St. Pauli” in his first book in 2012, he set off a wave of excitement among his colleagues (“First-class book!”, Wolfgang Herrndorf) and the press (“The world won’t be the same after this book”, FAS).
In this new adventure Onno is still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by the turmoil of his early investigations. So it seems like a happy coincidence that the eccentric artist Donald Jochimsen – cousin of Onno’s best friend – is looking for someone to join him on a Mediterranean cruise. He’s lost his aging heart to a young hostess who works on the ship, but also suffers from a pronounced “victimophobia”. It’s no wonder he’s yearning for some support. Their experiences on the ship fluctuate between longed-for relaxation (Onno) and paranoid-misanthropic relapses (Donald), until something shocking happens that brings the turbulent journey to an abrupt end – and sets a very different set of events in motion.
Frank Schulz writes like no other. His language is full of ideas, wit and elegance. A brilliant second novel for Onno Viets – witty, exuberant and powerfully eloquent.
