Aglaia Szyszkowitz & Walter Sittler

Writing is like kissing, only without lips. Writing is kissing with the mind.

For centuries, secretly exchanged, tender letters have been the refuge of longing lovers – and is there a better-protected space for undisturbed exchange in the modern everyday world than the virtual one?

Language psychologist Leo Leike initially responds to the mistaken emails from the unknown Emmi Rothner purely out of courtesy. However, an intense exchange unexpectedly unfolds between the two strangers, who continually draw closer despite the distance of their screens. Soon, it seems only a matter of time before they meet in person. But can the feelings and attractions they have sent withstand the challenges of a real encounter? And what have they kept from each other?

Aglaia Szyszkowitz and Walter Sittler bring the two characters, united in their loneliness, to life for an afternoon with enthusiasm, wit, and much sensitivity, in this modern epistolary novel by Daniel Glattauer, which has become a classic.