Ben Becker reads T.C. Boyle: “No Way Home”

One of the most important voices in contemporary American literature, read by one of the most incisive voices of German-language acting: T.C. Boyle and Ben Becker presented the bestselling author's latest novel on a joint “No Way Home” tour last fall — as a world premiere, half a year before the book was published in the USA. And they became artist friends during this road trip. Probably because it is T.C. Boyle's most multi-faceted book and Ben Becker brings the different sides and perspectives of Boyle's characters to life like no other. Ben Becker is now continuing the “No Way Home” tour solo. Yet he is closer to T.C. Boyle than anyone else, not only because interpreter and author share an artistic relationship of trust, but also because Ben Becker combines the extremes of the novel.

The morally good side of the story of “No Way Home” is told from the perspective of intern Terry, who is thrown off track by his mother's death even though he has to deal with death every day. Terry, who works permanently in a clinic in L.A., unexpectedly inherits his mother's house in the provincial town of Boulder City, in the middle of the Nevada desert, not far from a gigantic reservoir that continues to dry out every year. When Terry visits his mother's orphaned house, he meets Bethany: attractive, manipulative, and homeless. With her, Terry finds himself in another life, over which he is increasingly losing control. His dream woman entangles him in a nightmare. Because Bethany's ex-boyfriend Jesse follows him with his motorcycle, threatens him and breaks all his bones. In Terry's view of the story, good and evil are clearly distributed. But T.C. Boyle also tells the story from the Bad Boy's point of view, and in Jesse's eyes, the world looks completely different. Ben Becker not only lends his voice to these contrasting figures, but also his entire experience, allows us to look into abysses and questions moral prejudices. In doing so, he gives the book a third dimension. If you don't just want to read “No Way Home” by T.C. Boyle, but want to experience it, Ben Becker is the right place for you.

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