When opportunity strikes, television producer Deon Maas joins the boatloads of migrants heading for Germany. Faced with the choice of taking all his possessions along or selling everything, he opts for the latter. With a duffel bag and his four dogs, he departs for the First World.

Decadent Berlin blows his mind but also leaves him at a loss for words. As he criss-crosses the city, scratching at its pulsating underbelly, he marvels at German idiosyncrasies, and is roped into this new world by an array of vegan anarchists, eclectic musicians, football hooligans and graffiti artists.

As he tries to settle in, he has to deal with everything from obnoxious bureaucrats to nosy neighbours. In the process, Maas debunks a few myths about the First World: it’s not a perfect place where everything works, and German efficiency is definitely overrated.

By confronting the loss of his support network and adapting to a different political and social context, he learns exactly how deep his African roots go and what it takes to find your place in Europe as a white African.

Skreeusnaaks en uittartend soos net Deon Maas kan.

In hierdie boek ontsien Maas niks of niemand nie. Hy skryf onbeskaamd en doodeerlik oor allerlei eg Suid-Afrikaanse heilige koeie. Afrikaans op kampusse, selfies, baarde, banting, die Guptas en die sogenaamde Stellenbosch Mafia loop deur onder die uitgesproke skrywer se skerp pen. Sy blatante eerlikheid oor alles van mans se “menere” tot Julius Malema, gay huwelike en NG-dominees is verfrissend.

Dit is vlymskerp, omstrede en onvergeetlik.

City boy Deon Maas flees the suburbs in search of adventure and Africa is where he reckons he will find it. Over a period of 15 years he embarks on several journeys, once with his whole family in tow, to discover what it means to be African.He ends up ducking pirates in Madagascar, spending a night with oil thieves in Nigeria and narrowly escaping death at a roadblock in the Congo. Interwoven with his travel stories is his search for local music and the musical legends of the countries he visits. His stories are spiced with fascinating characters, strange sightings and... his cocky attitude Anything but the typical tourist, Deon sets out to meet the locals and experience the underbelly of every new city. This means that he often ventures to places where he isn't meant to be and he ends up in a tight spot more than once. Impudent and blatantly honest, even ordering a hotel breakfast can become an adventure when Deon Maas is involved. His self-deprecating humor and offbeat take on most situations make for an unforgettable reading experience.