Josef Skvorecky is the author of "The Cowards," "The Bass Saxophone," "The Engineer of Human Souls," and "Dvorak in Love," among other works. He is the winner of Canada's Governor General's Award. He and his wife, Zdena, divide their time between Toronto and Venice, Florida.
A funny, despairing, satirical, compassionate, sprawling, gloomy,
provocative, prophetic, angry, and entertaining book. One of the
most important novels ever written in Canada. --Canadian Forum
It is a relief to read him, to know that there are still writers
like him who have things to say that are vitally important for all
of us . . . What he writes about rivets the soul. --Alan
Sillitoe
It is magnificent! . . . It marks an exceptional moment in history
. . . It is a magnum opus. --Milan Kundera
Skvorecky would probably chide us for dismissing any of the
injustices and griefs that abound in [the novel]. They are real and
they are gruesome. And yet we put the novel down with a sense of
joy at the plenitude of life. --Michael Henry Heim
Starred Review. This powerful, moving, yet often hilarious novel is
an example of cultural meditation at its best.
[Skvorecky is] one of the major literary figures of our time . . .
a novelist of the first rank . . . one of the masters of current
Czech literature . . . His novels are sad, funny--and utterly
gripping.
A complex, challenging analysis of contemporary politics and
society, The Engineer of Human Souls will become a milestone in the
evolution of world literature.
A deep pleasure to read.
Among its many other virtues, The Engineer of Human Souls is
perhaps the funniest academic novel since Malcolm Bradbury's The
History Man.
By turns comic or sad and bitter, Skvorecky's book is a marvelous
exploration of the human condition.
Josef Skvorecky is unquestionably an important writer, blending a
great humorous talent with a restless, sustained, probing moral
inquisitiveness . . . The Engineer of Human Souls will certainly
introduce the reader to the distinctive Skvorecky world.
Skvorecky is so much of a writer that the moment he puts pen to
paper, he can't help being an artist.
Starred Review.This powerful, moving, yet often hilarious novel is
an example of cultural meditation at its best.
What better check on general doctrine than the poet's and the
novelist's 'small stories, ' the kind that Josef Skvorecky recounts
with such verve and generosity.
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