Frank Schulz

“Who am I talking to. My slippers?... Wait a second, I’ll pour myself another whiskey and then I’ll tell you the drunkard’s story about Kolk’s nearly deaf left ear, which he owes to the poison of the blonde bride. I don’t know why. It’s important to me, let’s say that. I will simply tell it to you. Just as it really happened. It’s the time for good resolutions. And it will rain the whole night anyway.”

Bar talks, card playing evenings, love-sickness, hangover days, spontaneous celebrations in the “Glucke” – the life of a handful of friends who continue to celebrate the last remnants of their youth, which they have prolonged far into their thirties, is centred around music, women, beer and pubs. Daily life as a postman or long-time student is easy to cope with as long as it’s clear where to get the most beautiful “blonde brides”.

One lonely New Year’s Eve, Bodo recounts how and why the genie in a bottle demands its tributes after all, and so searches for the lost time. Through detective work Bodo reconstructs the events around his old friend Kolk, a pornographic postcard, the garter belt lady, crashes and low points, he speculates and finds his truth. But even truth is relative.

“‘Carousing’ and ‘Consoling’. They start so alike and end so differently… What’s the point of all of this, I ask myself then, and reply: ‘What’s the point?’ Ask me, and I’ll tell you: ‘Don’t ask me.’”

Kolks blonde Bräute turned Frank Schulz into a cult author. Apart from him, only Eckhard Henscheid managed to come close to putting alcohol-fuelled speech into writing that perfectly and humorously. Schulz provides a detailed sketch of the life experience of a generation.