Šťastné město

The origins of this novel are partly connected to Prague, where in the early years of the twenty-first century I discovered how the whole city (or at least its historic centre) could be transformed into a tourist complex. The same phenomenon can be observed in Paris, Venice or Krakow. But the ancient squares of the Czech capital, its famous bridge, its transition from communism to capitalism, served as a backdrop for my imagination. I didn't try for a realistic depiction, my aim was to write a novel based on this simple idea: how a city can turn into a company and reduce its inhabitants to mere employees... The narrator, trapped in this urban fiction, speaks in the voice of an aging man. In this disillusioned world, where the scenery of life reeks of death and all adventures become mere clichés, humour and poetry remain the only horizon!

Czech edition