Frank Goosen - "Lovely Rita"

Frank Goosen reads from his new novel "Lovely Rita" - a story about a dying habitat: the local pub. And isn't it absurd that the head on a beer is called a "flower", while the glass is called a "tulip"?

At the heart of the story is the "Haus Himmelreich", an old corner pub where lives and stories intersect. At the bar sit the Käpt'n, der Lange, and Willi Trommer - regulars who have been there since time immemorial. Joining them are Gisela the expert tap-puller, Wacholder-Anni with God's toolbox, Faris the comedian, Harry the old social democrat, Carlo who looks like Cat Stevens, and the Gräfin, who has seen the whole world but sometimes lives inside an old song.

Above all, there is Rita Urbaniak - Lovely Rita - the landlady who once wanted to do something entirely different, until life got in the way. And her sister Chris, born during the war, always somewhere out in the world, searching for what people so casually call happiness.

Between the Herrengedeck and the ladies' round, you ground yourself before the first sip, pay up, and stay friendly - and rolling two sixes into a one on the second throw at dice? That only works on Maundy Thursday.