J a Hele Zbransk David (2024)

This Czech-language novel takes the form of a diary kept by an established writer. He is forty-five, has a wife and two children, and lives in Athens. He has already played all his trump cards, his vanity is bruised, and he is growing old. Who is David Zbransk, and is his best already behind him? We do not know, but the time has come to grow up, stop lying to himself and put aside all pretence. The book is both a novel about a midlife crisis and an unsolicited guide to the Czech literary scene. It includes such reflections as Shit, fuck. I was caught in the act of growing old, Where is gratitude? Where is life? Where is gratitudelife? and I see the world in black through the lens of the BlacksOnBlondes porn site. It also observes that a successful final performance is, practically speaking, an expression of collective stupidity.