I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself On The Camino de Santiago by Hape Kerkeling

About the book: I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself On The Camino de Santiago has sold more than three million copies in Germany and has been translated into eleven languages. The number of pilgrims along the Camino has increased by 20 percent since the book was published in 2006 and published into English in 2009. Hape Kerkeling's spiritual journey has struck a chord! 

Overweight, overworked, and physically unfit, Kerkeling was an unlikely candidate to make the arduous hike across the French Alps to the Spanish Shrine of St James, a 1,200-year-old journey undertaken by nearly 100,000 Christians every year. But that did not stop him from getting off the couch and walking. Along the way, lonely and searching for meaning, he began the journal that turned into this utterly frank, engaging book. Simply by struggling with his physical limitations and the rigours of long-distance walking, he discovered a deep sense of peace that transformed his life and allowed him to forgive himself, and others, more readily. He learned something every day, and he took to finishing each entry with his daily lessons.

Filled with quirky fellow pilgrims, historic landscapes, and Kerkeling’s self-deprecating sense of humour, I’m Off Then is an inspiring travelogue, a publishing phenomenon, and a spiritual journey unlike any other.

About the author: Hape Kerkeling, one of Europe’s most popular comedic entertainers, is the winner of the Karl Valentin Prize for Humour, the Chatwin Award for Best Travel Book of the Year, and numerous other prizes. I'm Off Then, his first book, has become a bestselling sensation in Germany. He lives in Berlin. 

About the translator: Shelley Frisch is an award-winning translator of numerous books from German, including biographies of Nietzsche, Einstein, and Kafka. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey and  holds a doctorate in German literature from Princeton University.