Evaporation in the Boundary Zone

»Open seven days«, reads the blackboard at the entrance. Ilija’s parents run a restaurant in Bavaria. As a child, he helps out in the kitchen, growing up on French fries and deep-fried food. When the restaurant stops turning enough of a profit, his parents simply open up a new one somewhere else.

Since his father likes to play tennis, he encourages his son to take tennis lessons. Ilija makes new friends at the club and wants to go to a prep school just like them. His life becomes increasingly disconnected from that of his parents, especially when his father moves back to Croatia. But there is one thing that accompanies him everywhere he goes: »I can smell fries, Ilija's coming!« This sentence uttered by a classmate, which has stuck with him to this day, becomes the point of departure for a self-exploration: Does the way we smell reveal our social background?

In his literary debut, Ilija Matusko combines personal memories with sociological observations. In ten essayistic chapters, he tells the story of climbing the social ladder through education – with a keen eye for subtle differences, and with a good dose of wit and literary prowess.


 

»The question of whether Evaporation in the Boundary Zone is a novel or a work of non-fiction is pointless. What’s more important is the question of whether it’s a good book. And it is!« Guido Speckmann, neues deutschland

»The striking mix of personal history and essayistic reflection makes this a stimulating and complex read. How do you write about where you come from when you automatically alienate yourself from your family in the very act of writing?« profil

»From the perspective of someone who has changed their station through education, Matusko looks at his parents’ experience and exposes the mechanisms that have shaped his and their lives so subtly and powerfully.« Jury statement of the Fritz-Hüser-Institut 2022