Catapult: A Timetable of Rail, Sea, and Air Ways to Paradise

This 1967 novel, written at the height of the heady political and literary fermentation known as the Prague Spring, is here published in English for the first time. It is black humor at its best, poking fun at the dismal brand of Czech socialism and the Czechs themselves. Jacek Jost, a young engineer with a nice family and a decent-paying job, is going through a midlife crisis. Bored with his wife, Lenka, he advertises in a lonely-hearts column and winds up with six mistresses of varying ages and professions, none of whom know he's married. But instead of feeling liberated, Jack is overwhelmed by the complicated mess he's made, as he races from woman to woman, a modern-day Don Juan. When all attempts to get a divorce fail, Jacek advertises for a lover for his wife and ends up with two highly unsuitable candidates--one is a dwarf. By the end of the book, Lenka, in a flash of spirit, has thrown her husband out of the house. A witty, provocative book that portrays the anarchic, bittersweet state of mind and place before the Soviet invasion. (Apr.)