Virgin

Can erotic convergence be accomplished along asymptotic lines? Lothar is researching the collaborative studies conducted by the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar and his legendary Amica, the physician and mystic Adrienne von Speyr.

Convinced that he is on the track of an incredible drama of love, Lothar, a student who swapped drama for Catholic theology together with sexual abstinence, finds his conscience increasingly in conflict with his solemn vow of celibacy: the charismatic pianist Mary Lou confronts him with temptation and denial. The discursive network in Jungfrau takes on a garish life of its own in the manner peculiar to the author. Contributors to the debate include Hollywood B-movie icon Maria Montez as well as Clemens Brentano, who for years recorded visions of a stigmatised nun, as well as Ronald Tavel, founder of the Theatre of the Riduculous, the camp-filmmaker Jack Smith, or the jazz pianist Jutta Hipp.

Thomas Meinecke has been blessed with a pop-based access to Catholicism. His new novel takes him down extravagant paths of faith: a polyphonic, camp and kinky romp through the centuries.

»Highly enjoyable: the material Meinecke finds, all the cross-references and links he establishes, startling in the finest cultural-historical sense, and the enthusiasm he conveys for the realm of possibilities for that which humankind may choose to do or not to do.« Spex