The Year of the Frog: A Novel.

New York, NY Simon & Schuster: Scribner Paperback Fiction, June 13, 1996. Paperback First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. Near Fine in Wraps: shows only the most minute indications of use: just a hint of wear to extremities; mildest rubbing. Binding square and secure; text clean. Very close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 247pp. Translated by Peter Petro. Foreward by Vaclav Havel. First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. Trade Paperback. This book is about a young man, Milan, in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia during the 1980's. His father is imprisoned as a dissident, Milan is a non-conformist and the Communist state is not his friend. Milan is in turns a hospital orderly and a hardware store clerk, when he is working. The story is intensely personal involving the reader in Milan's thoughts and feelings as he is confronted by the shocks of his eventful life. The story provides insight into the dreary and oppressive life during that period, but more importantly the author is able to make the reader feel the impact of the sometimes ordinary, sometimes traumatic events Milan experiences, and to make his discoveries, joys and anguish our own. It is philosophical as the main character tries at all turns to extract meaning and personal guidance from what he witnesses. It is also very much a love story and shows the great awe and mystery he finds in his girlfriend, Tania, and other women. This is not always pleasant to read but is gripping in the way that it unfolds his hazardous life without disclosing where it is going, if indeed it is going anywhere.