The Chimera of Prague
Rick Pryll
(Author)
Description
WINNER, 2018 New York Book Festival for Romance
Whether you lived there, just visited, or have been dreaming about Prague, this book will immerse you in just what it is that has captivated generations.
Diving into the brokenness in himself, divorced American expat, Joseph, allows us into his delicate dysfunction as he explores the magical, mystical, quirky city of Prague, chasing women and trying to understand his failed marriage.
Joseph Przbylski Jr. is six feet tall, with a shock of inky black hair. He's contemplative, athletic, and he wears tortoise-shell glasses. Freshly divorced, he quits his corporate job at a bank in Manhattan to spend some time abroad and find himself. He calls it a "gap year" a term reserved for kids between high school and college, or college graduates about to start their adult lives. For Joseph, it's a gap between his devastating divorce and his uncertain future.
In his increasing loneliness, living in this magically romantic city, Joseph obsesses over a waitress. If it weren't for the parade of distracting women, he might have a shot with Karina, the tall slender Czech model-wanna-be. He keeps a journal and finds himself digging through fragments of memory to try and discover where things first went wrong in his first love.
He starts at the end, the scene where he and his high school girlfriend go off, in opposite directions, to college. He progresses backward through their poignant, mostly-innocent romance to their first kiss, creating a tumultuous rendering of love lost
The story-within-the-story is an ode to his home in Western New York. It is riddled with a barrage of 80's pop culture references.
But the real love story here is between Joseph and his adopted city, Prague. Before he can find the relationship he craves, Joseph may need to unearth a way to love himself again.
Product Details
| Publisher | Foolishness Press |
| Publish Date | November 17, 2017 |
| Pages | 276 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Paperback / softback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780974505688 |
| Dimensions | 9.0 X 6.0 X 0.6 inches | 0.9 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"This novel is not merely for world travelers or diviners of personal truth. It is a message for all of us to be bold, brave and to know through this text, that we are not alone." - Bibiana Krall, author of Volga Black
"One of the most exceptional books I have ever read. The style is unique - perfectly balancing literary prowess against a determined unpretentiousness. The imagery is sublime, the tone informal. It is written beautifully but is rarely (if ever) preoccupied with the prose. It's rare to find a book - or indeed an author - that is able to hit all the sweet spots as this does." - Katherine Parsons, Goodreads 5-star review
"Readers of psychological fiction will find The Chimera of Prague compelling, vivid, and hard to put down." - D. Donovan, Southwest Book Review
"The Chimera of Prague embodies the raw magic of Prague felt by anyone who's been lucky enough to live there and survive the experience. Pryll's prose flows to expand our understanding of a Prague era much discussed in recent years - the early years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the city's inhabitants took 'liberated' to an extreme before any disillusion could set in." - Jason Mashak, poet, author of Salty as a Lip
"Pryll captures all the international sexual tension and possibility that was 1990s Prague, a time when young Western expats arrived, seeking to find themselves somewhere in this crown jewel city of Central Europe, post-Cold War." - Bonnie Ditlevsen, editor, Penduline Press
"Rick Pryll doesn't conform to the tried-and-true writing form. In a time when authors want to copy the fad or compete against the modern literary giants (think Tom Clancy, Dean Koontz, and Stephen King), his writing is a refreshing diversion." - Mark Smith, Goodreads review
"Not your run-of-the-mill novel. At times I wanted to reach through the pages and shake him, tell him to get it together. Other times I found myself cheering him on. Either way, the fast-paced nature of his thoughts kept me turning the pages for more." @HoldThatPage, Goodreads review
"I love the sting of it, the honest look at what holds most of us back in love." - Bibiana Krall, author of Escape into the Blue.
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