Czech 'Em Out Book Club: Prague Stories

About this event

December’s selection — Prague Stories, by Richard Bassett The Golden City of Prague has long been an intellectual center of the western world. The writers collected here range from the early nineteenth century to the present and include both Prague natives and visitors from elsewhere. Here are stories, legends, and scenes from the city’s past and present, from the Jewish fable of the golem, a creature conjured from clay, to tales of German and Soviet invasions. The international array of writers ranges from Franz Kafka to Ivan Klíma to Bruce Chatwin, and includes the award-winning British playwright Tom Stoppard and former American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, both of whom have Czech roots. Covering the city’s venerable Jewish heritage, the glamour of the belle-époque period, World War II, Communist rule, the Prague Spring, the Velvet Revolution, and beyond, Prague Stories weaves a remarkable selection of fiction and nonfiction into a literary portrait of a fascinating city. Richard Bassett, former Central European correspondent for The Times, knows his subject inside out. Here is Prague in all its brilliance, a city rich in folklore both Slavic and Jewish, whose history is the stuff of legend — Jan Hus, Charles IV and his eponymous bridge, serial defenestrations; Prague in the dark years of World War II, in the gray years of Communism, in the excitement of the Velvet Revolution. And here is today’s Prague, a vibrant cosmopolitan capital where a new generation of Czech writers – Sylva Fischerova, Daniela Hodrova and others – explores its identity in new and exciting ways. A unique collection of fiction and non-fiction to delight and stimulate travelers and stay-at-homes alike. About the Book Club Moderator: Steve Pederson is an UW Eau Claire graduate with a history major and a Scandinavian studies minor. He taught U.S. history, economics, and advanced placement American history in two Wisconsin high schools. Living in Iowa for the past 19 years, Steve…

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