Vladimir Vertlib once again proves himself to be a master storyteller: Lina's road trip through the Soviet Union is a cornucopia of incredible stories

"The Journey Home" is the author's touching homage to his mother, a fierce woman with an indestructible sense of humor, and at the same time a merciless satire on the absurdity of the Soviet dictatorship in the 1950s: Lina, a young student from Leningrad, modeled on the author's mother, is doing her compulsory labor service in distant Kazakhstan in the summer when she receives a message from home. "Father seriously ill! Come quickly!" With tenacity, desperation and changing companions, Lina sets off on her journey through the Soviet empire, which is ruled by absurd regulations and arbitrary police violence. Will she make it home in time to see her father alive?

Tara C. Meister sensitively tells a contemporary story about alternative life plans and dreams, about failure and new life.

The unpredictable but charismatic Johanna is a director in a small theatre collective. She has a close, perhaps too close, friendship with Caro, who works as a biochemist in a laboratory. When Johanna becomes unintentionally pregnant, Caro offers to raise the child together - a courageous alternative to traditional family patterns? Tara C. Meister's exciting debut novel confronts dreams with their validity in reality. She describes moments of intimacy and closeness, but also conflicts and assaults, with a light touch and a clear view. But Johanna and Caro are determined to live out their courageous decision - and to assert themselves in a world in which utopias are not intended...

A whip-smart essay about how to deal with the future developments in Artificial Intelligence.

Do ChatCPT and generative AI pose a threat to our civilization, or are they an opportunity? The latest algorithms seem to be getting more and more intelligent; they encroach on every aspect of life and are getting increasingly difficult for human beings to grasp. Should we be worried – and are we worrying about the right things? How are we supposed to control machines we cannot understand? If the focus of AI is shifting from intelligence to communication, this raises completely different questions. Ever since algorithms stopped trying to reproduce human intelligence, they have learned to become increasingly competent and efficient interlocutors. Now it is down to us to learn how we can communicate with them.

In Minihorror, ordinary nightmares come true – humorous, surreally imaginative and always aware of the fragility of our existence.

In Minihorror, Barbi Marković tells the story of Mini and Miki and their everyday adventures in the city. Mini and Miki aren’t from around here, but they do their best to fit in and do everything right. Despite – or rather because – of this, they are constantly pursued by dangers and monsters, by catastrophes and troubles. This is a book about the nightmares of the middle class, great and small, about the horror of the perfect family breakfast, about workplace bullying and holiday disasters, about the yawning, ever-present emptiness of everyday life. In Minihorror, Barbi Marković has created a perfidious, compassionate monument to the agents of fear in our society – to read it is to feel at once caught-out and understood.

A delight for all fans: Alois Brandstetter’s treasure trove of anecdotes is well-nigh inexhaustible!

In his 'Journey through Life', Alois Brandstetter created a tongue-in-cheek summary of his CV, and here the playful storytelling continues. On one of his walks, his eye is caught by an inscription: ‘Rubicon’, it says, and to his great astonishment, the name refers to a brutal-looking pickup jeep. Brandstetter begins to reminisce about cars and the trips he has taken in his life, about accidents and incidents, about paths, destinations, and the charm of meandering aimlessly through the world of things and of words. Observations about language alternate with anecdotes, memories with literary allusions, and ultimately, while we certainly don’t end up crossing the Rubicon, we do cross the finish line of a thoroughly enjoyable excursion with an incomparably hilarious author.

A brilliant examination of a multi-faceted concept: ‘disturbance’.

In this essay, Kinsky explores the human and natural influences on our environment that bring about fundamental changes. But what exactly characterises a disturbance, and how can we approach this negatively-charged word in a way that opens up unexpected avenues of thought? Esther Kinsky centres this essay around the concept of ‘disturbed land’. The term refers to a piece of land that is gradually being returned to a state of nature, generally after a period of very intensive use and appropriation by human beings. Drawing on various examples, Kinsky offers a powerful analysis of the tension between nature and culture, exploitation and reconquest, as well as historical pollution as a far-reaching field of disruption. Her perspective on the world leads to surprising and poetic insights.

The new, comprehensive work on the controversial revolutionary!

Fanatic or beacon of hope? Who was this revolutionary, whose ideas shaped not only Russia but the whole world? This biography centres around the career and thinking of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, digging deeper into entrenched prejudices, rearranging seemingly established connections and offering surprising explanations as to how an outsider rose to become the leader of the first socialist state. Drawing on a comprehensive array of original documents, the authors delve into the biography of a man who is considered one of the twentieth century’s most influential figures. The result is a new, multi-layered portrait of Lenin, telling the story of one lone maverick during a time of extraordinary upheaval. Thrilling, informative and captivating!

Radically feminist and humorous, Anna Katharina Laggner's notes of her twin pregnancy is a revelation.

A doctor gives the author some surprising news: she is creating life. She has one son already, and now she’s pregnant again. With twins. After much discussion, she decides against termination. She also discovers that being pregnant with twins seems to make her public property: doctors and relatives, complete strangers and friends, her yoga teacher and work colleagues – everybody wants to judge, offer advice, and touch her growing belly. Radically subjective and unshakeably good-humoured, Anna Katharina Laggner explores the mystery of being a trinity: she writes about her life with and among ‘Strangelings’, about erotic dry spells and unreasonable social demands, about her fears, and about the tremendous joy that remains a constant presence.

In his new novel, Peter Henisch deftly combines an idyllic southern setting with current political reality, telling the story of an unusual friendship

In ‘Nothing But Sky’, Peter Henisch returns to his beloved San Vito, to a hidden apartment under the eaves in this small Italian town. For musician Paul Spielmann, who has just fled the pandemic and a midlife crisis in Vienna, it becomes a refuge. Paul finds peace during evenings on his terrace, taking photographs of metamorphosing clouds and flocks of birds, until suddenly a man appears across the roofs, one of the clandestini, refugees from Africa who are increasingly becoming a focus of protest and agitation among the Italian right wing. ‘Give me shelter’ the man begs, and Paul takes him in and helps him. Soon, he is drawn into a maelstrom of ambivalent emotions and political propaganda – and a growing friendship with Abdallah …

Erika Pluhar recalls her sister’s childhood and adolescence: touching and compassionate.

In writing that is frank and unvarnished, Erika Pluhar describes her sister’s traumatic experiences as a child during wartime and a post-war teen, experiences that forced her to take on responsibilities much too early, to adapt and make herself fit in. Gitti’s childhood and youth is shaped by tremendous upheaval: after living in Brazil for the first years of her life, she moves to Munich, where her father embarks on a career in the Nazi party, ultimately taking the family to occupied Poland. The war increasingly comes to dominate everyday life, and Gitti must face up to the challenges of adulthood … ‘better to hide the sadness within and make a secret of it. Yes, in a secret room that belongs only to me and remains invisible to everybody else, she thought.’