A smart, funny, poignant, very modern autobiographical coming-of-age novel, written when the author was sixteen years old. Like Catcher in the Rye, Crazy appeals to the teenager in us all. Benni himself is partially paralyzed and a serial failure (he''s been kicked out of four boarding schools in his short life and has just entered his fifth). So he''s a little odd, but he''s cool and he finds other strange boys to hang with. Together they set out to experience what they can: girls, booze, sex, philosophy, drugs, sex, books, music, sex–pretty much everything whatever. And Benni lets us in on "the crazy life" he figures is the only way to deal with the crazy world.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Henry and Paul are strangers when they find themselves sharing a sleeping compartment on a night train from Munich to Berlin. When they begin to talk, their stories appear to be variations on the same theme: young guys adrift in the big city, relationships gone wrong, broken hearts. Henry is running away from a triangle of friendship gone sour; Paul is running away too, but as the night unfolds and the train speeds north across the German landscape, his story turns ominous. What he finally reveals to his unsuspecting traveling companion goes into the darkest sphere of human behavior. Shocking and raw, The Bird is a Raven is the work of a writer at the beginning of a stellar career.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Two messengers, six allies, one fight for survival! A gateway to a world of the past, of vanished names, hopes and dreams has opened in the depths of the Black Forest. Two messengers from the immense sunken realms of time, Tristan and Martha, used to be lovers, now sworn enemies. They have come together to fight one final, decisive battle, but they must search the Black Forest to find six comrades-in-arms. Ultimately, five fighters for doom and three fighters for preservation will face each other. And the battle of the eight will continue until only one of them is left and the fate of humanity is sealed.

wo messengers, six allies, one fight for survival! A gateway to a world of the past, of vanished names, hopes and dreams has opened in the depths of the Black Forest. Two messengers have come to our present from the immense sunken realms of time. Tristan is the messenger of doom. Martha is the messenger of preservation. They used to be lovers, now they are sworn enemies. They have come together to fight one final, decisive battle. But they cannot fight this fight alone. Both must win allies to fight by their side. Time is of the essence and there can only be a few - everything revolves around the eight, a mystical number that refers to infinity. Tristan and Martha must search the Black Forest to find six comrades-in-arms to join their fight. Ultimately, five fighters for doom and three fighters for preservation will face each other. And the battle of the eight will continue until only one of them is left and the fate of humanity is sealed. For many years Benjamin Lebert has been one of the most interesting literary voices in Germany. -Joachim Scholl, Deutschlandradio Kultur In short chapters with many changes of perspective, preliminary interpretations and cliff hangers, Benjamin Lebert creates a rapid narrative pace at which he seldom decelerates. Atmospherically dense, he describes uncanny encounters in the forest, and in a sometimes very poetic language he lets the reader participate in the emotional world of the protagonists. -Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Wo kann man Heimat finden zwischen Hoffnung und Verlorenheit? Keiner kann davon erzählen wie Benjamin Lebert.Ein Roman über die letzten Tage vor dem Erdbeben in Nepal. Kathmandu im April 2015. Bis zum großen Beben sind es noch neun Tage. Shakti, Achanda und Tarun leben in einem Kinderheim, das für sie so etwas wie ein Zuhause ist. Sie träumen von Freundschaft, der Pflegefamilie, einem Motorrad, sie erleben eine Ahnung von Glück. Ihre Eltern hatten sie in die Zwangsarbeit und in die Prostitution verkauft, irgendwann konnten sie fliehen. Man lässt sie glauben, dass es ihnen jetzt gut gehen wird, aber natürlich wissen sie es besser. Sie sind am Leben, sie trauen niemandem, sie suchen einen Weg durch die Dunkelheit und wissen nicht, wie wenig Zeit ihnen bleibt.

»Hallo Leute. Ich heiße Benjamin Lebert, bin sechzehn Jahre alt, und ich bin ein Krüppel. Nur damit ihr es wisst. Ich dachte, es wäre von beiderseitigem Interesse.«Mit diesen Worten stellt sich Benjamin Lebert an seinem ersten Schultag seinen neuen Mitschülern vor. Es ist sein fünfter Schulwechsel. Diesmal soll er endlich die 8. Klasse bestehen und, wenn möglich, hier im Internat das Abitur machen. Und bei allen Unternehmungen beschäftigt ihn und seine Freunde die Frage, worum es in dieser ganzen Veranstaltung namens Leben eigentlich geht, um Mädchen, um Sex, um Freundschaft oder einfach nur darum, weiterzumachen, wie "crazy" die Welt auch sein mag …In seinem autobiographischen Roman »Crazy« erzählt der sechzehnjährige Benjamin Lebert mit erstaunlicher Wärme, großem Witz und einer guten Portion Selbstironie von der Schwierigkeit des Erwachsenwerdens.

A smart, funny, poignant, very modern autobiographical coming-of-age novel, written when the author was sixteen years old. Like Catcher in the Rye, Crazy appeals to the teenager in us all. Benni himself is partially paralyzed and a serial failure (he''s been kicked out of four boarding schools in his short life and has just entered his fifth). So he''s a little odd, but he''s cool and he finds other strange boys to hang with. Together they set out to experience what they can: girls, booze, sex, philosophy, drugs, sex, books, music, sex–pretty much everything whatever. And Benni lets us in on "the crazy life" he figures is the only way to deal with the crazy world.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Henry and Paul are strangers when they find themselves sharing a sleeping compartment on a night train from Munich to Berlin. When they begin to talk, their stories appear to be variations on the same theme: young guys adrift in the big city, relationships gone wrong, broken hearts. Henry is running away from a triangle of friendship gone sour; Paul is running away too, but as the night unfolds and the train speeds north across the German landscape, his story turns ominous. What he finally reveals to his unsuspecting traveling companion goes into the darkest sphere of human behavior. Shocking and raw, The Bird is a Raven is the work of a writer at the beginning of a stellar career.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Two messengers, six allies, one fight for survival! A gateway to a world of the past, of vanished names, hopes and dreams has opened in the depths of the Black Forest. Two messengers from the immense sunken realms of time, Tristan and Martha, used to be lovers, now sworn enemies. They have come together to fight one final, decisive battle, but they must search the Black Forest to find six comrades-in-arms. Ultimately, five fighters for doom and three fighters for preservation will face each other. And the battle of the eight will continue until only one of them is left and the fate of humanity is sealed.

wo messengers, six allies, one fight for survival! A gateway to a world of the past, of vanished names, hopes and dreams has opened in the depths of the Black Forest. Two messengers have come to our present from the immense sunken realms of time. Tristan is the messenger of doom. Martha is the messenger of preservation. They used to be lovers, now they are sworn enemies. They have come together to fight one final, decisive battle. But they cannot fight this fight alone. Both must win allies to fight by their side. Time is of the essence and there can only be a few - everything revolves around the eight, a mystical number that refers to infinity. Tristan and Martha must search the Black Forest to find six comrades-in-arms to join their fight. Ultimately, five fighters for doom and three fighters for preservation will face each other. And the battle of the eight will continue until only one of them is left and the fate of humanity is sealed. For many years Benjamin Lebert has been one of the most interesting literary voices in Germany. -Joachim Scholl, Deutschlandradio Kultur In short chapters with many changes of perspective, preliminary interpretations and cliff hangers, Benjamin Lebert creates a rapid narrative pace at which he seldom decelerates. Atmospherically dense, he describes uncanny encounters in the forest, and in a sometimes very poetic language he lets the reader participate in the emotional world of the protagonists. -Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Wo kann man Heimat finden zwischen Hoffnung und Verlorenheit? Keiner kann davon erzählen wie Benjamin Lebert.Ein Roman über die letzten Tage vor dem Erdbeben in Nepal. Kathmandu im April 2015. Bis zum großen Beben sind es noch neun Tage. Shakti, Achanda und Tarun leben in einem Kinderheim, das für sie so etwas wie ein Zuhause ist. Sie träumen von Freundschaft, der Pflegefamilie, einem Motorrad, sie erleben eine Ahnung von Glück. Ihre Eltern hatten sie in die Zwangsarbeit und in die Prostitution verkauft, irgendwann konnten sie fliehen. Man lässt sie glauben, dass es ihnen jetzt gut gehen wird, aber natürlich wissen sie es besser. Sie sind am Leben, sie trauen niemandem, sie suchen einen Weg durch die Dunkelheit und wissen nicht, wie wenig Zeit ihnen bleibt.

»Hallo Leute. Ich heiße Benjamin Lebert, bin sechzehn Jahre alt, und ich bin ein Krüppel. Nur damit ihr es wisst. Ich dachte, es wäre von beiderseitigem Interesse.«Mit diesen Worten stellt sich Benjamin Lebert an seinem ersten Schultag seinen neuen Mitschülern vor. Es ist sein fünfter Schulwechsel. Diesmal soll er endlich die 8. Klasse bestehen und, wenn möglich, hier im Internat das Abitur machen. Und bei allen Unternehmungen beschäftigt ihn und seine Freunde die Frage, worum es in dieser ganzen Veranstaltung namens Leben eigentlich geht, um Mädchen, um Sex, um Freundschaft oder einfach nur darum, weiterzumachen, wie "crazy" die Welt auch sein mag …In seinem autobiographischen Roman »Crazy« erzählt der sechzehnjährige Benjamin Lebert mit erstaunlicher Wärme, großem Witz und einer guten Portion Selbstironie von der Schwierigkeit des Erwachsenwerdens.