Gespräch mit Hans Jürg Zinsli

"Literature rocks!" – Books on the radio and as podcasts. A radio show and a podcast are rocking the Swiss literary scene. The Lüthy bookstore in Chur and the Graubünden content agency Driftwood have launched "Literature rocks!". The project is supported by the Graubünden artist Piroska Szönye.

The discussion round, which is recorded live once a month in the Lüthy bookstore in Chur, consists of the bookseller and book expert Miriam Cahannes, the discussion leader Thomas Hobi and changing authors. The conversation will be broadcast on Sunday morning from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the Swiss radio station driftFM. From Monday, the conversation can then be listened to here as a podcast. For a few episodes a year, the podcast is a live guest at Bücher Lüthy in Chur.

"The Life of the Deputies"
The millennium euphoria is over, the social hangover is taking hold in the noughties and at the same time globalized locust capitalism is emerging. In Füllendorf, in the valley that lies between two gorges, there is an oversized shopping centre that is being trimmed for success by an Eastern European investor and a secret brotherhood with a radical sell-off strategy.

As deputy manager of a fashion store in the same shopping mall, Max Blank is challenged: his bosses are demanding more and more, the pressure is growing and the targets for the upcoming big sale are ambitious. Blank finds himself in a dilemma: Does he still want to make a career? Can he allow himself to make romantic advances to his colleague Poulson? Or does he have to escape this valley, where it is all too comfortable to live?

At the same time, the safe manufacturer Flurin Mark resides high above Fülldorf. As a wealthy entrepreneur and lord of the castle, he has power and functioning networks. But his body is weak, he can't do anything with feelings and his promiscuous daughter Hanna only returns home when she is broke. When Hanna and Max meet, not only does an amorous adventure begin, but even a rapprochement of disparate worlds seems possible. But can the merciless market logic be defeated, can class differences be overcome?

Hans Jürg Zinsli, born in Zurich in 1968 and raised in Chur, wrote as a journalist for various daily newspapers, blogged in "Whiskyhimmel" and is an editor at kulturtipp. He is a member of the Swiss Film Academy and winner of the Prix Pathé for film journalism. His first novel "Die Puppen von Zerbrau" was published in 2011.