Thorsten Nagelschmidt – "Nur für Mitglieder"

Box Office: €18.00

86 hours of *The Sopranos* in eleven days—right where others go on vacation. Thorsten Nagelschmidt recounts, with wit, depth, and unsparing candor, his attempt to escape his annual misfortune.

For a long time now, author and musician Thorsten Nagelschmidt has been plagued by depression during the pre-Christmas season. He hasn’t visited his family during this time for over 20 years. Instead, parties and excesses have become his go-to means of distraction. But this has never stopped the depression—at best, it has only delayed it.

To break the spell, he decides to spend the holidays at an all-inclusive hotel in Gran Canaria. What’s more: he’ll take his escapism to the extreme and finally watch the most famous series in television history. *The Sopranos*, all seven seasons in a row, eight hours a day, for eleven days.

In the tradition of Foster Wallace’s cruise report “Terribly Amusing, But Not With Me Next Time,” Nagelschmidt voluntarily puts himself in an extreme situation to explore—personally, culturally, and with a touch of humor—what these “non-places” of the vacation industry and this perhaps strangest time of the year are all about.

“Oh, the pressure we put on ourselves this time of year … – I call it Stressmas.” (Dr. Melfi, *The Sopranos*)

Thorsten Nagelschmidt, born in Rheine in 1976, is an author, musician, and artist. He is the singer, lyricist, and guitarist for the band Muff Potter and has published numerous books. In 2024, his novel *Arbeit* was selected for the “Berlin Reads a Book” campaign.

©Andreas Hornoff

An event presented by LiteraturBüro Mainz e.V.