Lesung: Frank Goosen "Lovely Rita"

In his new novel, Frank Goosen heads to the bar.

More specifically, to the “Haus Himmelreich,” the old corner bar where stories and destinies intersect: There’s the bar counter with the Captain, the Tall Guy, and Willi Trommer—guys who’ve been hanging out here since time immemorial. There’s Gisela, the artful bartender; Wacholder-Anni with God’s toolbox; Faris, the comedian; Harry, the old Social Democrat; Carlo, who looks like Cat Stevens; and even the Countess, who’s seen the whole world but sometimes lives in an old song.

But above all, there’s Rita Urbaniak, Lovely Rita, the landlady, who actually wanted to do something completely different but then life got in the way. And her sister Chris, born during the war, who’s always been traveling all over the world in search of what people casually call happiness.

Between the “Herrengedeck” and the ladies’ group, everyone comes back down to earth before the first round; it’s time to pay and be friendly—and to turn two sixes into a one on the second roll—which, when playing “Knobeln,” is only possible on Maundy Thursday.

In “Lovely Rita,” Frank Goosen tells the story—with his usual humor and warmth—of a dying ecosystem: the pub. And isn’t it absurd that the head on a Pilsner is called a “flower,” but the glass is called a “tulip”?