{"product_id":"czech-literature-paperback","title":"The End of the World Might Not Have Taken Place - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePatrik Ouředník\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eAlexander Hertich\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe end of the world is the least of the problems facing Gaspard Boisvert, erstwhile advisor to \"the stupidest American president in history,\" when he discovers that he may share the genes of a certain, infamous Austrian corporal, thanks to a dalliance on the part of his grandmother during the First World War.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAround the hapless Gaspard's descent into amnesia and anti-social rebellion, an obsessive-compulsive narrator assembles 111 pithy chapters linked by the ultimate theme of all: the coming apocalypse. In this deadpan anti-novel, statistics and historical data are marshalled, and the divagations range over subjects as various as the history of religions, Viagra, vegetarianism and dietary taboos, aerial bombing, the Maltese national anthem, categories of suicide, varieties of stupidity, bathtubs, the critical density of the universe, pork and pigmen, and the etymology of the name Adolf.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePatrik Ouředník was born in Prague, but emigrated to\u003cbr\u003e France in 1984, where he still lives. He is the author of nineteen \u003cbr\u003ebooks, including fiction, essays, and poems. He is also the Czech \u003cbr\u003etranslator of novels, short stories and plays from such writers as \u003cbr\u003eFrançois Rabelais, Alfred Jarry, Raymond Queneau, Samuel Beckett, and \u003cbr\u003eBoris Vian. He has received a number of literary awards for his writing, \u003cbr\u003e including the Czech Literary Fund Award.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlexander Hertich is a translator and professor of French literature. His translations have appeared in Dalkey Archive Press's \u003cem\u003eBest European Fiction 2015\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e2016\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003e2019.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n        \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 176\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.6 x 8.4 x 5.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 18, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42104850677895,"sku":"9781628973396","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/8424eaf2ce865f13233921f99957a371.webp?v=1732428702","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/czech-literature-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}