Description
A memoir of jazz-obsessed youth opens this remarkable collection, setting the stage for two haunting novellas where music becomes both refuge and risk under the Nazi and Soviet dictatorships. In one story, a young Czechoslovak student drawn to jazz—the “forbidden music”—is pulled into a secret German band, only to find that the cost of playing can be stranger and harsher than he ever imagined. In the other, set in the shadow of the Communist regime, jazz sparks a young man’s pursuit of a mysterious girl tangled in superstition and the occult, drawing him deeper into her pain even as comedy and tragedy collide. Across both tales, Josef Škvorecký’s lyrical, jazz-like prose turns themes of freedom, desire, and moral compromise into unforgettable portraits of life lived under surveillance.
Available Editions
paperback
Knopf
Published May 1, 2013
208 pages
ISBN: 9780307832122
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Details
First Published
2013
Language
eng
Translation
From: ces
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for THE BASS SAXOPHONE by Josef Skvorecky.