Endlich Kokain

"All of Vienna Turns to Cocaine" or: a foolproof method to save one's life.

A touching, ordinary, and unfortunately overweight do-gooder, who has never lived wildly, excitingly, or without restraint, receives the terrible diagnosis: a maximum of three more years to live due to increasingly severe high blood pressure and immobility. The early-retired TV editor makes a desperate decision when he learns that only hard drugs can help with his monstrous obesity: he starts a "cocaine diet." The born square meticulously documents dosage and effects, but soon he becomes increasingly euphoric, wild, open, and thinner! His character begins to dissolve. He lies, forges, cheats, suddenly has excessive sex, and with every pound lost, he rises to become the quirky cult figure of the Viennese art scene. Only a coincidence can save him from his naive optimism and the inevitable drug downfall. Joachim Lottmann's novel is a striking study of the soul of a man caught in a whirlpool of decadent adventures, and at the same time, it reflects a high-spirited era.