Hi,

A few weeks ago, Paul Hawkins, author of How to Operate a Human (English title available now), sent me a nice e-mail asking if I’d be interested in reading his new book “Erwachsenwerden für Anfänger”, Avoiding Adulthood. As someone with slight Peter-Pan-syndrome, I was instantly intrigued.

Do you think your life would be better if you were allowed to spend your days catching snowflakes and licking cookie dough off a spoon? Maybe you’ve already reached your thirties and you freak out every time someone calls you ma’am or sir. Do you keep asking yourself when and how you should start to act like an adult? Yes? Good, then read on.

Unfortunately, Paul Hawkins can not tell you when to start acting like an adult, but in his book “Erwachsenwerden für Anfänger” he shares lots of tricks to facilitate your life among adults. In the main chapters “Wohnen”, “Leben”, “Lieben”, “Arbeiten” and “Etc.” (E: Work, Spare Time, Relationships, Home and Admin), you will find helpful information to guide you through all kinds of difficult situations. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a new apartment (have you noticed that you lower your expectations with every rejection?) or trying to find out if you and your partner are compatible sleeping partners (and I’m not talking about sex), there is a solution for your problem and it comes with a laugh.

And laugh I did. More than once, I found myself wondering if there was a slight chance that Paul Hawkins had been studying me when he wrote this book. Did he watch me grocery shopping when I was on holiday – a very important skill to acquire -, or is it simply because we’re very close in age? Anyway, if you just can’t part with your inner child and have to find a way to deal with this cruel world out there, go on and read “Erwachsenwerden für Anfänger”. It’s laughing-out-loud funny, I swear!

Update April 2019: An English-language edition called Avoiding Adulthood is now available.

¹ http://www.chbeck.de/Hawkins-Erwachsenwerden-Anfaenger/productview.aspx?product=14942041
A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.