num_pages: 85
description: Winner, 1998 PEN Center USA West Award for TranslationJosef Hir š al's experimental novel is a Dada-like romp through the life of a young man born into a Bohemian peasant family. Told in five parts, A Bohemian Youth begins with a word to the wise, moves on to the text, continues with notes and with notes to the note, and ends with a note on the notes to the notes.More than just a tongue-in-cheek parody of a literary memoir, A Bohemian Youth is a glimpse of the First Czechoslovak Republic as seen through the eyes of a young peasant from the provinces. Abounding in intimate details--the manners of a servant girl, the habits of the town homosexual, the sounds of popular music; the way people eat in wartime—Hir š al's novel is a wrenching and hilarious tale of a young man's emotional and sexual awakening.
language: English
title: A Bohemian Youth
titlecomplete: A Bohemian Youth (Writings From An Unbound Europe)
genres: Literature, Fiction
ratings_count: 17
publisher: Northwestern University Press