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Loading... The tenor saxophonist's story (edition 1996)by Josef Skvorecky, Caleb Crain, Kaca Polackova-Henley, Peter Kussi
Work InformationThe Tenor Saxophonist's Story by Josef Škvorecký
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The Tenor Saxophonist's Story reveals how all the important things in life are complicated - sometimes hilariously so - by the paranoia of Eastern bloc politics. Misguided romance, jazz, fear and betrayal are at the heart of the stories here, all narrated by a young, idealistic musician. "Truths" cleverly drives home the point that some truths are better left unsaid - especially if one is pursuing a passionate, partisan woman. "A Case for Political Inspectors" demonstrates how fear and hypocrisy can shake even the highest class levels. "Krpata's Blues" confirms that the cost of true love - not to mention your own apartment - can be dear indeed. Brash and lyrical, frightening and comic, this tenor saxophonist's riff will linger in the mind long after the final note is sounded. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)891.8635Literature Literature of other languages Literature of east Indo-European and Celtic languages West and South Slavic languages (Bulgarian, Slovene, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Serbo-Croatian, and Macedonian) Czech Czech fiction 1900–1989LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Here's a sampling of Škvorecký's style in these tales, from the story "How They Got Nabbed":
"Then official lightning struck several times in rapid succession as far as jazz and bebop were concerned, and some drunk sat down on top of Paul's vibes. We barely managed to scrape up a few gigs in the few joints left tor the non-builders of socialism. I lost track of Paul. He did meet me a couple of times and tried to talk me into joining up with Nutsbellow; he enticed me with trousers made over from American offers' pinks, cartons of Chesterfields and a pornographic magazine with stereoscopic glasses that made the pictures burst right out of the page. But I was wary and chose to pretend that I was lazy and liked to sleep during the day."
The stories are short and the reading is easy, but the collection leaves you with some things to ponder. ( )