Ampel Nema can no longer remember when or why his life changed in such a way that nothing and no one is in the right place anymore - not even himself, Ampel Nema. Maybe he never got over the fact that his father disappeared, that his friend Ilias got angry when Ampel told him he loved him, and that he can no longer return to his homeland because he has been declared a deserter. Above all, Ampel would like to empty his mind of all memories, and he certainly wouldn't mind if his marriage gradually disappeared from his life, even though Mercedes loves him and he is very fond of her son...
Teresa Mora's first novel is structured as a prose labyrinth of rare linguistic power and great richness in images, unparalleled in contemporary German literature. It tells the story of a man who is uprooted and silent, and who, although he speaks ten languages, has lost the ability to express himself in his own language. At the beginning of the novel, Ampel Nema is hanging upside down, with his feet tied up in a swing, and thus he sees the world with an inverted gaze, which he will maintain throughout his insane journey in our present.