Pull Yourself Together

Charlie Kolostrum carefully crafts his image, sometimes draping a black cloak over his shoulders and donning a black hat (though he knows smoking a pipe would be overdoing it). When friends drop by, he makes sure to leave a few books by Nietzsche on the table (though he prefers self-help manuals). The jobless, self-described wimp lives off the kindness ? and financial contributions?of his family and mainly compiles lists of rules to live by, daydreams about rock stardom, and schemes to bed any number of women (though he's unable to emotionally connect with anyone). A classic underachiever, Charlie stumbles through life?until the day he gets his big chance to change everything.

This satire from one of Austria's most celebrated contemporary novelists shows that slacking can sometimes get you places.