Navid ist Lehrer und seine Lebensaufgabe sieht er immer mehr darin, richtige Antworten auf die Fragen der Kinder zu geben. Nicht mehr und nicht weniger. Doch ist das, angesichts der wachsenden Komplexität der Welt, ein bescheidener oder ein größenwahnsinniger Wunsch? Und obwohl Navid nur zum Geburtstag seiner Enkel fahren soll, wird sein von großen und kleinen Fragen, unerwarteten Hindernissen und schrägen Begegnungen gesäumter Weg zu einem ebenso berührenden wie existenziellen Roadtrip. An dessen Ende steht ein ganz alltägliches Wunder, das vielleicht auch Navids Fragen beantwortet.

Collecting as an obsession: the touching story of a junkaholic defying throwaway society. Alfred Irgang is a collector. However, he does not collect stamps or antiques, but simply anything that he comes across: old newspapers, false teeth that are as good as new, and other things that naïve members of the throwaway society surrender to the garbage collection. Accordingly, his apartment and various cellar compartments are remarkably filled to the brim, which in turn leads to considerable difficulties with the property managers, which, on the other hand, does not keep him from his hunt for treasures. Does not a lady’s corsage have as much of a story to tell as a Biedermeier davenport? At the regular’s table, where a group of scientists and art lovers meet, the collector likes to present his treasures but naturally meets little appreciation. When after an “occupational accident” he is confined to a hospital bed, the regulars see their chance to force their blessings on him …. It is with subtle irony that Evelyn Grill tells of a society that considers itself to be good, while the motto “to live and let live” is buried by the insatiable desire to usurp a maladjusted person.

Karin lives with her boyfriend Alexander in a house by the woods. Her foster-sister Lisa once lived there too, along with her parents August and Inge, sister Margarethe and brother Peter. Back then Karin and Lisa were happy; they grew as fast as the brambles, dived to the bottom of the lake hand in hand, and hid in the tiny caves formed by tree roots. Then something happened; August died and the foster child was banished. Years later Karin fetches Lisa back, and the two women become entangled in a game as destructive as it is seductive, sucked into a whirlpool of addiction, attraction and repulsion which holds us enthralled till the final page.