The Berlin-based author Sirko Salka has published a book about the midlife crisis. “Young Man – Your Crutch! With 50 Columns Through the Midlife Crisis” (Amazon affiliate link) was released on September 29 by Edition Salka.
It is explicitly not meant to be a guide to midlife. According to the publisher, it is more an attempt to write about “with wit and self-irony what is otherwise only murmured in the sauna.” Topics include the body, desire, shame, East German roots, and the question of closeness.
Gleeful Feelings While Vacuuming
Salka recounts, for example, a backache in a gay fetish basement, nude-beach cruising, the euphoria of vacuuming, and the embarrassment of an open fly. In doing so, he treats everyday moments as if they were the big questions of life, as the synopsis states.
The 50 columns can be read individually. Taken together, however, they form a second story: with each episode, the façade of wit, quick retorts, and roles crumbles; the narrator’s self-image as a man, lover, and human being wobbles. What starts off lightly becomes, according to the publisher, increasingly personal, without losing the humor. The midlife crisis is merely the occasion—the real issue becomes clear only gradually.
Sirko Salka is a journalist and author. He spent 17 years in editorial leadership and, with “Young Man – Your Crutch!”, publishes his fifth book. In April 2026, his poetry collection “Fuel in the Blood” was released.
Sirko Salka: Young Man – Your Crutch! With 50 Columns Through the Midlife Crisis. 330 pages. Edition Salka. Berlin 2026. Paperback: 18 € (ISBN 978-3-912695-02-1)
