A mandated East-West pen friendship: In early 1982, 16-year-old Torsten from Dortmund is forced by his teacher to start a correspondence with his peer Andreas from Leipzig. The goal: a presentation about real life in the GDR - Torsten's last chance to pass. Indeed, a contrasting exchange develops between the superficial boy from the Ruhr area with a loose tongue and the shy Leipzig native, who possesses only one thing that Torsten envies: a real band. However, annoyed by Torsten's arrogant attitude and complete ignorance about the GDR, Andreas begins to paint a bizarre and exaggerated picture, where the general nudity requirement on Usedom is just one of the more harmless tales about the real existing socialism. Kaelo Michael Janssen and the well-known cabaret artist and comedian Thomas Nicolai accompany the protagonists through more than three and a half decades and two systems in their debut novel: episodically, vividly, and not least, hilariously funny.