In Arnold Stadler's novel Anywhere. But by the Sea, a writer travels to a cultural event in the Westerwald region, to take part in a discussion. But the event turns into a fiasco. When asked about his contribution to energy transition, and for his opinion on Greta Thunberg and the refugees drowning in the Mediterranean, he struggles to formulate an answer. "That's pure old white man talk!" someone in the audience shouts out. In need of a break, the "Expert in Ignorance", for whom the present is a foreign country, heads for his lifelong dream location: a house with a view of the Greek island of Ithaca. The trip turns into a tragi-comic journey through memories, stories and thoughts, a search for our place in the world, the place where we - despite everything! - can be happy: Anywhere. But by the Sea.
