To this day, Georg Jennerwein, who was shot in 1877 at the age of thirty, is revered as a rebellious poacher. But why does he still enjoy such respect, as sentimentalized in the Jennerwein song? Was Jennerwein really the upright folk hero who was shot in the back by a cowardly hunter, as the song suggests?

In his compelling novel, Manfred Böckl embarks on a quest for answers. A troubled life unfolds: the story of an unloved child with a character twisted by the harsh hand of a stepfather, a youth relentlessly oppressed by the village community, and ultimately a cynical man whose life is embittered by an unbridled hatred for the self-satisfied dignitaries and obedient servants of authority.

The author is particularly interested in the causes of this development, which he identifies in the social and societal conditions of that time. Against this backdrop, he can almost sympathetically address the murderous gamekeeper: in Johann Pföderl, who shot the poacher, he recognizes the true brother of Jennerwein in the hopelessness and deceitfulness of their society.