Jan De Smet

Hector's parents sent him to an orphanage in treatment for smallpox but... they never picked him up. 35 years later, he still lives in the orphanage, surrounded by children, his playmates. Till a forgotten aunt remembers that he exists. She'll get him to participate in the bakery of her husband, Achilles, to work. Hector shows his skills on the basis of unexpected inventions. So he helps Jos, the son of Achilles, to accomplish his dream to be a cycling champion. Hector's good humor and childlike manner overcomes all resistance and pulls his entire entourage along on the path to success. From now on he can learn what love is...

Do we still sing the praises of folly like Erasmus, or is it trendy again to be smart? And if so, who is the smartest? Who can talk about the medals won at the Olympic Games in London, but at the same time knows who Captain Haddock is? Who knows whether Lacan was a hair growth product or a psychoanalyst and can also program their own digital television? Who has déjà vu when leafing through the Encyclopedia Britannica and when reading the interviews with the new Miss Waregem Koerse? Who, oh who, is the smartest person in Flanders, Belgium, Europe, and by extension, the world? That is determined by a fierce battle between three fellow human beings. Every day, someone is eliminated, someone who may not be the smartest, but who is perhaps cherished in their family circle because of their many other talents. The others advance and are joined by a new challenger every day.

Fed up with her banal existence, Ann ditches her life as it is. Dragging her two best friends along, she navigates a year of brutally-honest madness, enlightened by mental field trips to the Stone Age and unsolicited superhero advice.