Franz Schuh – the "Titanically educated thinker" (Eva Menasse, "Die Zeit") – dedicates his new book to the year 2022 and writes a panorama of human tragicomedy.

This book is dedicated from the first to the last page to the year 2022, the 'annus horribilis' in the lives of many people, including my own. After eleven months in various hospitals, Franz Schuh, this solitary figure of Austrian literature, has resurfaced. His narratives, essays, and poems analyze the prevailing forms of life and come together with entertaining, sometimes melancholic wit to create a panorama of human tragicomedy. Whether he recounts experiences on the train, reflects on his childhood in the suburbs of Vienna, or engages with the contradictions of Anna Netrebko, Schuh has a keen sense for the comedic in the tragic. Clever laughter is his specialty.