I do not usually read travel books, but when someone recommended I’m Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago by Hape Kerkeling, and when multiple people praised it as one of the best overall books of the year, I was intrigued. I am glad to report that the accolades were true — this book, by one of Europe’s most popular comedians, is a terrific chronicle of one man’s physical and spiritual journey of self discovery.

I’m Off Then is the journal of Hans Peter Kerkeling, better known as Hape (or the hilarious characters he has invented, like Horst Schlammer, a deputy editor of a fictitious newspaper who ran for the office of German Chancellor, or Hannilein, a precocious preschooler, or Evje van Dampen, a female relationships counselor, among others). Although pronounced differently, when I hear or read Kerkeling’s first name, I think of the American word “happy,” and that’s an appropriate description for this internationally famous comedian. Yet, like other comics before him, from Charlie Chaplin to Steve Martin, Hape Kerkeling displays the tears of a clown as his book offers not only humor throughout its pages, but serious moments as well — a fine balance that makes it clear why this publishing endeavor by the comedian has become such a success.

The book has sold more than 3 million copies in Germany and has been translated in eleven languages. It tells the true tale of Kerkeling’s decision to take a 500-mile pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the legendary grave of Saint James, in a quest to find God and himself. After serious health problems (sudden hearing loss, surgery to remove his gallbladder, and symptoms of a heart attack), Hape becomes one of the nearly 100,000 who take the journey every year, inspired by others who have also completed this spiritual quest, including Shirley MacLaine, who wrote about it in The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit, and Paulo Coelho, who wrote The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdom. Since the book has been published, the number of pilgrims along the Camino has increased by 20 percent.

Article Author: Kikstad

Nick Leshi is a writer, actor, and media professional who loves the world of entertainment, speculative fiction, and pop culture. Read his daily blog and let him know what you think.

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