A very dear friend of mine, whom I actually got to know because of this book, wrote a children's book and at the time he felt so ashamed of some of its features that he released it using an alias. Funny though that the actor whom he had hired to read the audio book immediately told him that he was well aware of the fact that my friend was the author.
So what was it that so much upset my friend? Well, the book is entitled "Jo Raketen-Po" which would translate "Jo Rocket-Bum". And Jo displays this feature of developing expansive gases in his bowel everytime he is confronted with know-it-alls, in German "Klugscheißer" - a more literal translation would be wise-shithead -, bloated and opinionated people who believe that they know a lot about a subject whereas in fact their views are bullshit or in the worst case even chauvinist. Thus naturally Jo is farting a lot because he runs into a lot of "Klugscheißer" and sometimes when a lot of bullshit is said he would even go up in the air like a rocket, hence Rocket-Bum. So these farts would trouble my friend so much that he would not dare to give his real name. Yet this is such a wonderful book, not just for the farting which pleases a lot of children since this is something they love to talk about, my friend is also a poet. Therefore he explores the idea of wind in wonderful light and floating descriptions especially when Jo and his mother encounter a physician who specialises in windy conditions like the ones troubling Jo. I'm just glad that he published it.
Great art is probably always about crossing borders.
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