{"product_id":"9781887378109","title":"A Cup of Coffee with My Interrogator: The Prague Chronicles of Ludvik Vaculik","description":"\u003cp\u003eAuthor of the radical \u003cem\u003e2000 Words\u003c\/em\u003e manifesto for writers during the Prague Spring of 1968, Ludvík Vaculík was banned from all official publishing after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in the decades until the fall\u003cbr\u003e of communism with the Velvet Revolution of 1989. However, as founding editor of the \u003cem\u003ePadlock Editions\u003c\/em\u003e of informally circulated typescripts, he was central to maintaining independent writing and ideas in the Czech\u003cbr\u003e language. This pioneering collection of witty and ironical short essays in the classic Czech genre known as \u003cem\u003efeuilletons\u003c\/em\u003e, or chronicles, show Vaculík’s philosophy, honesty and humor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘He is the night watchman at a temporarily shut-down enterprise whose product is the national soul.’\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e After the Velvet Revolution confirmed his importance as an independent thinker and cultural figure, Vaculík continued his refusal to subscribe to accepted conventions. ‘Democracy has made me a poor democrat’, he wrote\u003cbr\u003e of the new Czech age of consumer culture, media sound bites and public relations. At his death in 2015 he chose an appropriate motto for his tombstone in the country village he always called home: ‘I was here and maybe I shall return.'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Readers International","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47166221058288,"sku":"9781887378109","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781887378109_p0.jpg?v=1763606679","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781887378109","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}