Planetka Mrkovch Mrka Petr (2025)

This Czech-language novella is a confession by an author who has eleven books behind him and feels an obvious need to take stock. He is approaching fifty, remains a boy at heart, yet can drive a car and has a family. He strives for happiness, but all that is good is constantly balanced by the threat of a mental disorder that destroys his life, his memory and perhaps his work itself. The book may be a confession: although the author simply wants to talk about himself, love emerges through his words. Mrka’s brutality gives way to shy declarations addressed to girls, friends, his father, a fateful girl and the band Pearl Jam. For readers, this means only one thing: they must either love the author or understand him.