Teresa Präauer: Das Glück ist eine Bohne und andere Geschichten.

Happiness Is a Bean and other stories.
Göttingen: Wallstein, 2021.
312 pages; Euro 24,70.
ISBN 978-3-8353-3948-4.

"Teresa Präauer brings Peter Handke together with Britney Spears", writes Paul Jandl in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung on 1 June 2021, about her collection of prose pieces titled Das Glück ist eine Bohne (Happiness Is a Bean). The clever, playful, and elegant way Präauer observes everyday culture, makes connections, and finds patterns in coincidences is, according to Jandl, definitely a very worthwhile read.

These are love stories and stories, true and invented, about loving life, which tell of snowboarding lessons with Phil Collins in the mountains of Salzburg, of having Britney Spears as a houseguest, and a character’s first trip to London following in the footsteps of Jimi Hendrix. The author and visual artist writes about Friedrich Hölderlin, Lucas Cranach the Elder, and Grace Jones, about expeditions to the North Pole, pole dancing, and Kim Kardashian’s butt: "What We See Looks Back at Us."
Präauer’s collected essays and prose pieces deliver not only her view of art but also a chronicle of the past decade’s pop culture: they bear exuberant titles such as "School of Looking" or "Invitation to Wild Thinking"; the author delivers on both labels with a light touch.

The flow of Präauer’s thoughts and writing is pleasantly sympathetic, even empathetic, sums up Alexander Kluy in the Literaturhaus-Buchmagazin (the Literaturhaus Wien’s compendium of book reviews). He reinforces this impression with a brief outline of the titular essay, which traces the course of these thoughts and portrays the author as a charming, mischievous artist who knows how to enjoy life:

In this essay, written in spring 2020, Präauer receives a dark brown, almost black bean as a gift from a friend; it is – according to the accompanying friendly note – a lucky bean. In the hopes that it will alleviate the grief that is currently plaguing her, she pockets the bean and carries it around in her purse. After a few days, she sees that it’s not a bean at all, it’s a stone, a dull, rounded, very dark one. Now, half in earnest jest, half in lighthearted seriousness, she uses the stone bean at the post office as an ironic currency of payment, and reaps a smile here, a conversation starter there, little sparks of happiness. Soon the stone bean fulfills Präauer’s wishes for a good year: dinners with friends, engaging concerts, afternoons in libraries, good coffee, long walks, opportunities, even love.

INCENTIVES, 15 July 2021.
Translation by Ida Cerne.

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