Back in the D.D.R is Rick Kaempfer’s 8th book, and his third novel. This one is personal, as it is loosely based on his own unusual childhood. Rick has previously written about his favorite baseball team (EveryCubEver), his former broadcasting career (The Radio Producer’s Handbook, Records Truly is My Middle Name, and $everance), and his humorous struggles with parenting (Father Knows Nothing). Kaempfer also teamed up with improvisation guru Brendan Sullivan to co-write a novel called The Living Wills using improvisational techniques. Rick is the co-publisher of Eckhartz Press (with David Stern), the media critic for the Illinois Entertainer, and... Read More
Back in the D.D.R
November 23, 2022
Trade paperback
Available now!
$20.00
A coming-of-age spy thriller set in Cold War West Germany in 1976.
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Rick Kaempfer
Author
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“Rick Kaempfer weaves a fascinating tale that jerks you back and forth between funny and scary. Having been to all of the places Rick describes, I felt like a 13-year-old reliving it. I even found myself mumbling a lot of the dialogue in German. A great read.”
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“In BACK IN THE DDR author Rick Kaempfer takes us on what on the surface is a family trip from Chicago back to his German homeland. Its what’s between the lines that gives the reader an uneasy feeling that there is a lot more going on here than meets the eye. Guess what. There is. The Berlin wall. Communist East Germany. I can say no more. A great page turning read.”
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You’ve never read a Cold War spy thriller like “Back in the DDR.” Rick Kaempfer tells the story from the point of view of Rudi, a bright 13 year old who moves with his family from Chicago to Germany when his father is transferred for work. “Back in the DDR” takes you on a 1970’s trip to both sides of the Iron Curtain with political intrigue that Rudi, a kid who just wants to collect baseball cards and listen to records, doesn’t understand. It’s a great ride that looks at the recent past with a brand new entertaining perspective.
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Back in the D.D.R. is a coming-of-age story set during the Cold War seventies that takes 12-year-old Rudi away from Chicago to his family’s German homeland, a journey that will open his eyes to discoveries about his father that he never could have imagined. Rick Kaempfer has penned a nostalgic fish out of water tale, blending elements of “The Wonder Years” and “The Americans” into an adventure that will make you laugh and cry along the way. When secrets are revealed at the end, it will be hard to say auf wiedersehen to it.
Summary
Back in the D.D.R is a double fish out of water tale. The year is 1976. 12-year-old Rudi has had a really difficult time fitting in his family’s adopted home of America, but just when he feels like he is becoming Americanized, his family moves back to West Germany. Rudi tries to navigate American Army bases, German and Austrian relatives he has never met, and Cold War political tension and violence he doesn’t fully understand. His unusual journey culminates in a visit to the other side of the Iron Curtain, where Rudi is forced to confront the real reasons his family has taken him on such a bumpy ride.
(Listen to Rick on WGN Radio explaining the origins of “Back in the D.D.R”)