Our book group choice for January 2025 is Eurotrash by Christian Kracht. Christian Kracht’s Eurotrash is a darkly comic and unsettling novel that follows a middle-aged man and his elderly mother as they embark on a bizarre road trip through Switzerland.
Haunted by their family’s dark past – their wealth built on the foundations of Nazi collaboration – and struggling with their own personal demons, the pair’s journey is one of both hilarity and despair. They attempt to give away their immense fortune to strangers, a quest that proves surprisingly difficult and leads to a series of absurd encounters.
Kracht’s prose is sharp and witty, capturing the absurdity of their situation while delving into deeper themes of guilt, memory, and the legacy of history. Eurotrash is a poignant exploration of familial relationships and the complexities of confronting the past, all set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Europe.
Discussion Questions
To come
Individual Ratings
To come