Scattered jokes can be found throughout Zsuzsanna Gahse's books. This time, however, they take center stage, with small narrative scenes revolving around politics, language, sex, illness, and death. They often make their grand appearance on a small stage, where the double-edged witty conversation culture from the narrator's childhood home is performed. The mother spectacularly fails in her attempt to tell a Hungarian joke in German. Hans, Hannes, Juan, and also Giovanni present jokes, often typical of their countries, and occasionally poorly and incorrectly told jokes, full of unintentional comedy. This curated collection of jokes and non-jokes, observations, and characters increasingly weaves together into a tightly-knit fabric of seriousness and levity. Upon closer inspection, one will easily discover that jokes are almost always sad, displaced narratives.