The King of China

When Keith Stapperpfennig and his family give their grandfather the trip of a lifetime an all-expenses-paid holiday to any destination in the world the old man arbitrarily chooses China, and asks Keith to accompany him. But when Keith loses all the money for the journey at a casino, he goes into hiding mostly under his desk and his grandfather, not really interested in travelling to China, heads down the road to engage in a similar subterfuge.

It is here that the novel opens: two men in hiding, mere miles apart. With the aid of a guidebook, Keith writes letters home, detailing their imaginary travels and the bizarre sights they see. But soon his imagination gets the better of him . . . Engaging, strange and ultimately moving, this hilarious novel confirmed Tilman Rammstedt as one of Germany’s most compelling writers.

About the Authors

Tilman Rammstedt was born in Bielefeld in 1975 and lives in Berlin. He has published three novels and one short-story collection in German.

Katy Derbyshire is a translator and coeditor of no man's land, an online literary magazine of contemporary German writing in English.