For What It’s Worth: Reading with author Thorsten Nagelschmidt and translator Tim DeMarco

The German Department was pleased to present a reading and discussion with author Thorsten Nagelschmidt and translator Tim DeMarco from the novel For What It’s Worth (Was kostet die Welt). 

What to do with the windfall? When his father dies, bohemian bartender Meise takes the unexpected inheritance and embarks on a journey. The plan? Spend, not save. He swore to himself he would do it all differently than his father. But after road-tripping across America and partying all over Europe, he doesn’t seem to fit back into his old life in Berlin. With the remaining money he sets out on one last trip: to a vineyard in rural West Germany. There he is confronted with a culture shock unlike any other and is forced to ask himself the questions about his own life he’s been trying to avoid. Tragic yet entertaining, with acute observations and no shortage of black humor, Nagelschmidt allows his (anti)hero to fail – by his own hand or others’ is up to the reader to decide. Author and translator read from the novel in German and English, and discussed themes of the novel as well as the translation process.

Thorsten Nagelschmidt, born in 1976 in West Germany, is an author, musician, and artist. Until 2009, he was the singer, lyricist, and guitarist of the band Muff Potter. He has had three novels and a collection of stories and photographs published, most recently Der Abfall der Herzen, published by S. Fischer Verlag in 2018. Nagelschmidt lives in Berlin.

Translator Tim DeMarco is a teacher, translator, and writer. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and his master’s degree from Middlebury College. He currently lives in New Jersey, where he teaches at the high school and university level.