Josef Škvorecký Book order

Follows the history of Danny Smiricky as he attends two class reunions--one in 1963 and one in 1993--and the influences on his life and friends of the major political ideologies of the twentieth century.

This autobiography in stories, When Eve Was Naked , takes us through a most remarkable life, from the innocence of prewar Prague through the horrors of the Nazi occupation and World War II. In the title story, narrated by Skvorecky's alter-ego Danny Smiricky, seven-year-old Danny falls in love for the first time; at sixteen he hides in a railway station and watches as his Jewish teacher is herded onto a train and taken away; and in 1968, as Russian tanks rolled into Prague, Skvorecky flees Czechoslovakia, taking Danny with him. In the collection's final stories, Danny begins his tenure as Professor Smiricky at a Canadian university and attempts to come to terms with the politically innocent and self-centered youth that flock to his courses.

"The narrator lives in two very distinct worlds; one is a community of exiles and emigres from post-Communist Czechoslovakia, where old feuds and friendships that have lasted through wars, occupations, and revolutions still survive; and the other is the comfortable, fatuously self-congratulatory world of a Canadian university, in which grave attention is given to matters such as whether a certain male professor has left his office door open wide enough while interviewing a female student."--Jacket.

From the celebrated novelist comes his autobiography in story form One of the most celebrated writers of our time, Skvorecky`s books have been honoured all over the world for their passion, wry humour, insights into human and political frailties and breathtaking style. When Eve Was Naked is no exception. It is the ultimate collection of the Danny stories and as close to autobiography as Skvorecky will ever write. Organized chronologically into four parts, the stories reveal the important facets of this writer`s life - childhood, the Second World War, the communist era in Czechoslovakia and the Canada years. From forced labour camps to the `68 Soviet invasion and from the politics of revolt to the craft of writing, Danny`s life mirrors Skvorecky`s own. While there is tragedy here, there is also joy and girls - beautiful, tempting, life-affirming girls. Lush, poignant and beautifully written, this is vintage Skvorecky.

Six entrancing tales represent the essential Fitzgerald and the Jazz Age spirit: "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," "The Ice Palace," "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," "May Day," "The Jelly-Bean," and "The Offshore Pirate."

A novel of love in time of war and revolution, freedom and tragedy, set against the broad canvas of the American Civil War. At the heart of the novel is a little-known fact of history - the formation of a militia by a motley band of Czech immigrants who took up the cause of freedom.

Set in Czechoslovakia amidst the ruthless background of political repression, this memoir and ten companion tales tell of romance, subversion and artistic hunger, and of a regime that cast a terrifying shadow on some of the brightest hearts and minds of post-war Europe.

The Czech novelist looks at his childhood and the changes that took place as Communist rule replaced Nazi rule

The celebrated author of THE BASS SAXOPHONE, THE REPUBLIC OF WHORES, and THE BRIDE OF TEXAS has won international acclaim for the acerbic, funny, and haunting novels of his native Czechoslovakia, the wry world of political repression that shaped him as a writer. Once again, Skvorecky sharpens his mordant wit on familiar themes in this collection of interconnecting tales.