Spaceman of Bohemia
“With charm and the urgent delicacy that this poetic first novel demands, British-born narrator Jot Davies deftly delivers this story…Davies’ contemplative voice carries the listener on a singular ride to places where alien spiders and memories of an Iron-Curtained Eastern Europe somehow occupy the same space, proving perhaps that there may be more uncharted territory in the mind than in all the cosmos. Surreal, heartfelt, and vivid.”
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New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
Wall Street Journal Pick for best new fiction
A Kirkus Reviews Pick of Favorite Debuts
A New York Times Pick of Six New Paperback to Check Out This Week
Shortlisted for the 2018 Arthur C. Clarke Award
Finalist for the 2018 Dayton Literary Peace Prize
The first Czech astronaunt navigates the perilf of deep space in this intergalactic odyssey of love, ambition, and self-discovery.
Orphaned as a boy, raised in the Czech countryside by his doting grandparents, Jakub Procházka has risen from small-time scientist to become the country's first astronaut. When a dangerous solo mission to Venus offers him both the chance at heroism he's dreamt of, and a way to atone for his father's sins as a Communist informer, he ventures boldly into the vast unknown. But in so doing, he leaves behind his devoted wife, Lenka, whose love, he realizes too late, he has sacrificed on the altar of his ambitions.
Alone in Deep Space, Jakub discovers a possibly imaginary giant alien spider, who becomes his unlikely companion. Over philosophical conversations about the nature of love, life and death, and the deliciousness of bacon, the pair form an intense and emotional bond. Will it be enough to see Jakub through a clash with secret Russian rivals and return him safely to Earth for a second chance with Lenka?
Rich with warmth and suspense and surprise, Spaceman of Bohemia is an exuberant delight from start to finish. Very seldom has a novel this profound taken readers on a journey of such boundless entertainment and sheer fun.
"A frenetically imaginative first effort, booming with vitality and originality . . . Kalfar's voice is distinct enough to leave tread marks." —Jennifer Senior, New York Times
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