A Bohemian youth

Josef Hirsal's experimental novel is a Dada-like romp through the life of a young man born into a Bohemian peasant family. Told in five parts, the novel begins with a "word to the wise," moves on to the text proper, continues with notes and with notes to the notes, and ends with a note on the notes to the notes. More than just a tongue-in-cheek parody of a literary memoir, however, A Bohemian Youth is social history of the first rank: it is a glimpse of the First Czechoslovak Republic as seen through the eyes of a young peasant firmly grounded in the provinces. It abounds in the kind of intimate detail not found in history books - the manners of a Slovak servant girl; the mores of the town's homosexual; the sounds of popular music; the way people eat in wartime. At the same time, A Bohemian Youth is a wrenching and hilarious tale of its hero's emotional and sexual awakening.