Manuel Bittorf alias Betterov liest aus seinem Debütroman GOLDENER RETRIEVER

Exceptional artist Manuel Bittorf aka Betterov reads from his debut novel

Manuel Bittorf, alias Betterov, is one of the most successful artists on the German music scene. In 2022, he released OLYMPIA, a universally applauded TOP 5 album that won the Pop Culture Prize, and was a welcome guest on shows such as Inas Nacht and Late Night Berlin. In November 2025, Universal Music released his second TOP 10 album GROßE KUNST, which was followed by major sold-out headline tours throughout Germany. In October 2026, Bittorf's debut novel GOLDENER RETRIEVER will be published by Gutkind Verlag. He will be presenting it at the invitation of Adieu Tristesse e.V. on 19.11.2026 at 7.30 pm in the 7180 Bar in Crailsheim.

In addition to the musical arrangements, Betterov's great art is above all his flair for impressive songwriting, as media such as Stern and Rolling Stone agree. Laut.de writes about him: "Betterov tells his story in such a way that you can't listen away, he brings pain, home and hope together with admirable clarity. This is not a pose, not a project, not a trend, but life."

Manuel Bittorf, born in 1994 near Eisenach, worked in the theater for several years and later studied acting at the Berlin University of the Arts. Texts have accompanied him his whole life. So it is only logical that Bittorf is now expanding his horizons as a writer and turning his storytelling skills into a debut novel.

GOLDEN RETRIEVER is about the protagonist Max, who regains consciousness in the middle of the street. Blue lights all around him. What the hell has happened? He has only just arrived here with his best friend Chau, in their new life. After one last wild party in the provinces, they got on the ICE - out of the East and into West Berlin. In the posh Grunewald district, they live in the only prefabricated building for miles around, completely lost among the stately villas and Ferraris. And then there's Kiki, Max's first love, who now lives in Munich. A late-night coincidence gives Max and Chau a business idea that quickly puts their newly started studies on the back burner. Their plan works - until it becomes an act of state.

"The song lyric virtuoso Betterov, also known to the police as Manuel Bittorf, tells of outsiders, of romantics stumbling through life, who constantly and on suspicion want to embrace the world that remains a mystery to them. Golden Retriever is about the small town in each of us that we can never escape, no matter where we were born - and about the big city that we think is the world. Touching, at times highly comical and interwoven with the melancholy that is expressed behind a rainy train window. The author can sing a song about it. Several of them." (Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre)

"Bittorf can tell stories like others breathe. Effortlessly and vitally." (Ronja von Rönne)

"If I could have wished for a book from anyone, it would have been Betterov. Between its pages echoes exactly what I always hoped to read - only bigger, more tender and braver." (Lena Brasch)

"Manuel Bittorf hammers this yearning story about growing up into the pages with a passion for writing that I have rarely read. A plank of a novel. I laughed my head off." (Takis Würger)

Admission: 19.00 hrs.