Book Description:
'A Bohemian Odyssey' is the true story of an American trying to blend into the newly liberated society of post communist Bohemia as that society undergoes a metamorphosis of its own. The story takes place from 1990 92 and is told through the author's interactions with the people he encountered in the Bohemian City of Pardubice shortly after the Velvet Revolution. It focuses on the challenges of daily life making friends, finding romance, understanding culture and the personal growth that accompanies doing this in a foreign land. These activities are told through anecdotes, both humorous and tragic. The Bohemians are famous for being an unconventional people. This story bears witness to the surreal event of such a people, oppressed for 50 years, suddenly tasting freedom. What does 'free' mean in that circumstance? This book chronicles the Bohemians as they attempt to find out and build their culture anew. Follow the author's day to day experiences from teaching gifted language students to frolicking with Bohemian musicians in mountain cabins to posing as a journalist in order to infiltrate a women's prison. There is every range of emotion in the story. Joy, sorrow, anger, elation, and frustration are all parts of the experience. Likewise there are some unbelievably engaging characters, from an odd doctor who believes his hands have special healing powers to a comical, scheming entrepreneur who is part Ralph Kramden and part Ronald Reagan. There are also hippies, Communists, Mafioso, beautiful women, and a circle of dear Bohemian friends.
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