The Lower Bavarian province in the 1980s: In Artlhofen, the culture war between the church, the CSU and the anti-nuclear movement is raging. Right in the middle is 18-year-old senior altar boy Vinzenz Bachmaier, who finally wants to be cool for once. But instead of going to the anti-WAA demo in Wackersdorf, he has to go to the pilgrimage to Altötting. That’s not going to happen with his Ricarda and his career as a rock guitarist. When he finally breaks out of the narrow Catholic confines with his band and happiness seems within reach, his life takes a tragic turn. Suddenly Vinzenz is completely on his own and his odd friend Kowalczyk – and on his defiant will to assert himself. The novel by SZ editor Sebastian Beck is like a youth in the Bavarian countryside: anarchic, funny, sad, but always full of lust for life.
Sebastian Beck: Vinz Solo, LangenMüller, Munich 2023, 280 pages, 22 euros.