Pedro Lenz

Naw much of a talker

«It aw started long afore that. Ah kid jist as well make oot but: it aw started that wan evenin, a few days eftir they let me ootae the Joke.» (Glaswegean Dialect by Donald Laughlin) («It all started long before that, actually. I could just as well make out, though, that it all started that same evening, a few days after they let me out of the Joke.»)

The goalkeeper is a young man from a village in the Swiss midlands. He is an indefatigable and gifted storyteller, a true rogue, both naive and crafty. His love for telling stories often gets him into trouble.
In colloquial language, the goalkeeper talks about his everyday life in the 1980s.
Following a stint in prison, he tries to regain a foothold in his home village of Schummertal. At first this does not seem difficult, as the village has hardly changed during the year he had to spend in prison for a minor drug offence. His favourite pub is still there, and they still serve his beloved coffee 'with a shot'.
The goalkeeper finds work, and falls in love with Regula, a waitress. "If you think about it, it's really strange. You know a woman for years and don't think anything of it, and suddenly, my God, suddenly she has something." Regula already has a boyfriend, which makes matters more complicated, but she still takes a trip to Spain with the goalkeeper. In spite of all his attempts to keep his life on track, the past still catches up with him. He gradually begins to realise that he was betrayed by so-called friends, who made him the scapegoat for their shady dealing. And yet: "The past is there for a reason. Mine isn't all good, but at least I can tell it the way I want."

(Martin Zingg, trans. by Marcy Goldberg)

Translation in Standard German: Der Keeper bin ich. Übertragen von Raphael Urweider. Bilgerverlag, Zurich 2012. ISBN 978-3-03762-024-3

Recommended for translation by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia:
www.12swissbooks.ch

Translation of title: Dr Goalie bin ig

Freight Books, Glasgow 2013

ISBN: 978-1-908754-22-6