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Synopses & Reviews
Hanta has been compacting trash for thirty-five years. Every evening he rescues books from the jaws of his hydraulic press, carries them home, and fills his house with them. Hanta may be an idiot, as his boss calls him, but he is an idiot with a difference the ability to quote the
Talmud, Hegel, and Lao-tzu.
In this baroque and winsome tale, Hrabal, whom Milan Kundera has called "our very best writer today," celebrates the power and the indestructibility of the written word.
Review
"Hrabal's tale, so finely balanced between pathos and comedy, loses none of its power now that Czechoslovakia is free." Los Angeles Times
Review
"An irresistibly eccentric romp, quick with the heart's life." New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
Hantá rescues books from the jaws of his compacting press and carries them home. Hrabal, whom Milan Kundera calls “our very best writer today,” celebrates the power and the indestructibility of the written word. Translated by Michael Henry Heim.