The Party is in Prague

Arizona Daily Wildcat

All too often, in humanity's eternal quest for a quality piece of literature, the search bypasses this century altogether, usually starting in the early 1900's and continues back, back, back. It could have something to do with the belief that "older is better," that the classics of long ago achieved an ideal that this sterile present is unable to reach. Or it could have something to do with our access to modern tomes. The primary genre we are exposed to is in the supermarket check-out lines, with raised, bumpy covers that depict physically perfect beefcakes relishing the bosoms of similarly perfect (although inevitably helpless) vixens. Or there is yet another book about corrupt lawyers, grandiose political intrigue or another hero that happens to know how to fly an F-15. Writers of real substance tend to fall by the wayside, regardless of how prolific they may be.

Take Philip Roth as an example. Although he received much renown for Portnoy's Complaint, and garnered numerous awards for other works, his name no longer wields the same force as, say, that of Tom Clancy. He's not exactly what you would call a household name.

His book The Prague Orgy (Vintage, $9.00) exemplifies his style, blending outlandish humor with a serious message. The Prague Orgy is actually the epilogue to Zuckerman Bound, but it is completely lucid and entertaining reading on its own. Nathan Zuckerman is an American author of some renown. A scandalous writer, he enjoys the fruits of the public's shock: money and influence. This is his status quo until another writer comes to him with an odd request. This man, Zdenek Sisovsky, is another scandalous writer, but being from Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia, the consequence is far different: his books are banned and he is forced to exile himself to America. In leaving Prague, he has also left behind a collection of his father's short stories, and he calls on Zuckerman to help retrieve them.

The Prague Orgy is written as if it had come out of Zuckerman's journal and focuses on his experiences in Prague. The oppressed artists he comes in contact with here are a nice juxtaposition to his own experience as a writer in the States. The price many artists must ultimately pay for their creativity and insight is strongly apparent through these meetings, even as they are shaded by the outlandishly funny events. He meets Olga, Sisovsky's ex-wife, who is keeping his father's stories out of spite. She is a lonely, horny alcoholic who desires to be American in one precise way. Bolotka is another troublesome writer who was granted 48 hours to leave the country, but "I have sixteen girlfriends in Prague. How can I leave?" Meanwhile he takes to spying on himself for the ignorant government and attending perverse fetes.

The Prague Orgy is a perfect introduction to one of the more important writers of our time. A short novella, it packs a powerful message on the price of art, all the while never losing its very raw humor. It's quality, a tightly written book, and you don't have to leave this century to get it.