About the book

Rescue Swimming tells the tragicomic story of both an aimless and nameless hero, who gets onto a train one day, gets out during an emergency stop and starts walking. He finds accommodation at a youth hostel and, much to his surprise, is offered a job. Between rain-soaked brides, parched provincial girls and mysterious messages in the sky, he tries to keep afloat.

But the longer he stays in no man’s land, the more shadowy the line becomes between insight and madness, between the truth and gibberish. For a moment he seems to find solid ground in the The Mother of All ‘Polonaises’, but the big questions keep tormenting him. Questions such as: Why didn’t he just stay home? and: Who is that strange but stunning girl wandering through the hostel’s gardens at night?