Prague, Vol. 2 »

Travel to one of the most beautiful cities in the world in the company of its finest writers. Walk the mysterious nighttime streets of Prague with Franz Kafka and Jaroslav Hasek, eavesdrop on intimate conversations in restaurants and lively beer halls with Karel Capek and Bohumil Hrabal, listen to jazz in stylish nightclubs with Josef Skvorecky. The stories in this volume — many of which appear in English for the first time — will take you on a personal odyssey through the city's stormy past to its dynamic present. For the traveler who wishes to experience something of its essence, Prague illuminates the heart and soul of a great city. Contributors include Michal Ajvaz, Karel Capek, Ivan Divis, Jaroslav Hasek, Daniela Hodrova, Bohumil Hrabal, Alois Jirasek, Franz Kafka, Jiri Karasek ze Lvovic, Egon Erwin Kisch, Ivan Klima, Jiri Kovtun, Frantisek Langer, Gustav Meyrink, Jan Neruda, Karel Pecka, Ota Pavel, Josef Skvorecky, Jindriska Smetanova, Jachym Topol, and Jiri Weil.

Publishers Weekly

Novelist Ivan Klma explains in ``The Spirit of Prague'' that his native city has inspired people's creativity by the blending of three cultures that lived side by side for decades, even centuries: Czech, German and Jewish. It is also a city in which ``the best people in the country were often imprisoned, tortured or executed.'' Czech writers deal with such injustices with a subversive sense of humor. It shines in Bohumil Hrabal's description of ``The Hotel Parz,'' Josef Skvorecky's rendition of President Clinton's sax playing at the Reduta jazz club, Egon Erwin Kisch's ``The Case of the Washerwoman,'' and Jaroslav Hasek's sendup of The Society of Teetotalers. To see human comedy in the midst of great suffering allowed the spirit of Prague to prevail, and that is the genius of the authors presented here. These 24 stories, arranged by the areas of the city they illuminate, are a literary banquet for readers who already know and love ``the city of a hundred spires.'' As such, they are designed, according to editor Wilson, to reveal ``a deeper truth about the psyche of the people of Prague than perhaps direct description could.'' Also included are biographies of contributors and translators and a historical chronology of Prague. (Feb.)