Magic Hoffman
Jakob Arjouni
No Exit Press, pbk, 220pp, £6.99
Reviewed by Gerald Houghton (1998)

Fred Hoffman watched the reunification of his native Germany from a gaol cell, like some particularly dull soap opera. It was his own fault -- the armed robbery netted the cash, but the law netted him before he could spread any of his largesse. And he never named names. So it's four years and probation. Out to the dreary provincialism of Dieburg, bolstered by the dreams that put him away in the first place: of Canada, of a house on a lake, a boat...

There's something familiar about Arjouni's very readable novel -- the wide-eyed hick up to sample the delights and demons of the Big City, trading his clumsy way through petty rules and social convention. But 'Magic' Hoffman is made of sterner stuff, refusing to surrender Canada either to authority or the perceived duplicity of his former comrades. It's also about the New Germany and the aftershocks of historical division, evidenced most noticeably in the insidious racism that, Arjouni argues, underpins this whole New European edifice. As much a comedy of errors as a punching social document; its tongue stuffed firmly into its cheek.