Josef Skvorecky
Czech author who emigrated to Canada after the 1968 Soviet invasion. His Danny Smiricky novels, beginning with The Cowards, document Czech life and jazz culture under Nazi and Communist occupation with irony and nostalgia.
Works
- The CowardsNovel of Czech adolescents resisting communist ideology through jazz and rebellion
- The Miracle GameMystery novel exploring faith and religious miracles in communist Czechoslovakia
- The Engineer of Human SoulsSprawling novel following exiled Czech intellectual and academic across decades
- The Bass SaxophoneNovella about saxophone player and his romantic and political obsessions
- Miss Silver's PastNovel about a woman's past revealed through letters and detective investigation