Vita Nuova

Vita Nuova is the second in a trilogy of memoirs written from the perspectiveof Bohumil Hrabal’s wife, Elis.ka, about their life in Praguefrom the 1950s to the 1970s, when Communist repression of artists wasat its peak. Hrabal’s inimitable humor, which in Elis.ka’s ruminations rangesfrom bawdy slapstick to cutting irony, is all the more penetrating forbeing directed at himself. Vita Nuova showcases Hrabal’s legendarybohemian intellectual life, particularly his relationship with VladimírBoudník. Hrabal creates a shrewd, lively portrait of Eastern Europeanintellectual life in the mid-twentieth century.