The Cowards, written in 1958 by the Czech writer Josef Skvorecky, was republished as part of Penguin's Central European Classics in 2010. It's a highly entertaining satire of Czech politics at the very end of WWII when the Germans were being routed and the townspeople were awaiting the arrival of the Red Army. The narrator, Danny and his gang of friends form a jazz band and all-in-all find the whole war thing an irritating distraction to their music and romancing. They avoid the conflict as much as possible and when they do get involved, become unwitting "heros". The story of their action and the behavior of the townspeople toward the Soviets is highly ironic and humorous. It's a wonderfully clever, funny book with a lovable protagonist, who reappears in later books, including the hilarious Catch22-like Republic of Whores.
Click here for an intro to and interview with Skvorecky from Paris Review: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2392/the-art-of-fiction-no-112-josef-skvorecky
Click here for an intro to and interview with Skvorecky from Paris Review: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2392/the-art-of-fiction-no-112-josef-skvorecky
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