Thomas Brussig - Referee Fertig.

Welcome to the vale of tears. A referee explains his view on the world before going out on the field to blow the whistle in the finals. His finals.

The great satirist Thomas Brussig slips into the role of a referee and reflects on life. How does it feel to get booed by 80,000 people? How does it feel to be surrounded by liars, dodgers and cheaters who look innocent in one second and suffer in the next, just as tactics require it in the 90 minutes of a game? How does it feel to catch attention by making mistakes only (for only wrong decisions spur discussions)? The tragedy of the impartial is that he has to stay neutral in a world where passion is contagious, and remain an amateur among highly paid professionals. And why exactly are referees expected to be just, when nobody believes in justice anyway? This book by Thomas Brussig is the first of a new series by Residenz Verlag: A Litany.