Without doubt the most (self-)reflective book from the current wave of Czech autofiction.

Literary fiction

This diary of a writer, who likes nothing better than provoking liberal intellectuals, encapsulates the everyday life of the Czech middle class, writer’s block, despair at Czech literary life, being a new middle-aged parent, the climate crisis, consumerism, superficiality, global conflicts, and life in a partially corrupted and partially uncouth Czechia. Zábranský is able to communicate to readers the authentic details of his everyday life, even the most banal ones, which leads to often cruelly eloquent descriptions of the pathology of “an almost successful man”, as well as more thoughtful observations on life in Czechia during the pandemic and shortly afterwards. Zábranský is cynical, bratty and conceited, but also intellectual, honest, cheeky, and funny. The mosaic of thoughts and events is held together by the author’s style and the knowledge that life is a source of endless awkwardness. Readers can reflect on this with some relief and then apply it to their own lives.

David Zábranský (1977) is a prose writer, playwright and columnist, who is known for his, often, controversial and provocative opinions. He graduated in media studies and law and has worked in non-profit and non-governmental organizations. Zábranský has written several successful novels, which have been published in Spanish and Hungarian. His debut, Slabost pro každou jinou pláž (A Weakness for Every Other Beach, 2006), won the Magnesia Litera Award for Discovery of the Year. The play, Herec a truhlář Majer mluví o stavu své domoviny (Actor and Carpenter Majer Talks about the State of His Homeland, 2016), about the Czech national identity sparked a media debate and was published in German in 2018 by the Berlin-based Neofelis in their anthology of modern Czech drama. His latest novel is Jů a hele (Jů and Hele, 2024).