Zebra books

Josef Škvorecký

In a small Czechoslovak town during the chaos of the German retreat and the Russian advance, Danny Smirický—restless, self-absorbed, and more captivated by jazz and women than by history—finds his ordinary adolescent life colliding with extraordinary danger. As rumors of revolution swirl and powerful outsiders arrive and vanish, Danny drifts between fascination and denial, convinced he can keep his world intact even as everything tightens around him. Josef Škvorecký’s sharp, darkly observant style turns this coming-of-age premise into a tense portrait of cowardice—not as a single act, but as a mindset that can make catastrophe feel survivable until it isn’t. Blending youthful egocentrism with the moral pressure of political upheaval, the novel explores love, boredom, responsibility, and the peril of refusing to look directly at what’s happening.