THE Iron Curtain Kid

Ever wondered what it must have been like growing up behind the Iron Curtain, on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall? Would your days have been haunted by the shadow of the omnipresent secret service, the Stasi, or was reality somewhat more mundane? In this humorous and touching memoir, Oliver Fritz takes us behind the myths, into a world of bottled fruit, corny commie jokes, socialist folk songs, sticky-taped plastic bags and Trabant cars. Where kids are counting the years to retirement, pensioners have no qualms breaking the law, holidays involve smuggling western newspapers from the Soviet Union or money to Czechoslovakia and being mistaken for a westerner is a teen's dream. Underpinning daily life in the German Democratic Republic is Oliver's longing to know what things are like on the other side of the Wall...and the mixed feelings that result when, with the help of a tin of mushrooms, he finally begins to find out for himself...Visit www.ironcurtainkid.com for more info.