About the courage to take the plunge into cold water and the idea that it is possible to be the architect of one's own happiness. Jakob Hein has written a brilliant rogue novel about an East German who is the better West German. It tells the story of someone who runs away from himself with invented tales until there is nothing left of him. Friedrich Bender's youth in East Germany is not exactly a wild adventure. But then he starts a romance at summer camp with the daughter of English communists, who is also a punk. This makes him a star among his classmates. The catch: he has only imagined the punk lady. He wrote the letters from the island himself. He has often completely fabricated the successes of socialism that he is supposed to report to the class every day. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Friedrich quickly understands the new rules: soon he can be found at the currency exchange booths at Zoo Station.