My Crazy Century: A Memoir

In his intimate autobiography, spanning six decades that included war, totalitarianism, censorship, and the fight for democracy, acclaimed Czech writer Ivan Kl�ma reflects back on his remarkable life and this critical period of twentieth-century history.

Kl�ma's story begins in the 1930s on the outskirts of Prague where he grew up unaware of his concealed Jewish heritage. It came as a surprise when his family was transported to the Terez�n concentration camp--and an even greater surprise when most of them survived. They returned home to a city in economic turmoil and falling into the grip of Communism. Against this tumultuous backdrop, Kl�ma discovered his love of literature and matured as a writer. But as the regime further encroached on daily life, arresting his father and censoring his work, Kl�ma recognized the party for what it was: a deplorable, colossal lie. The true nature of oppression became clear to him and many of his peers, among them Josef Skvoreck�, Milan Kundera, and V�clav Havel. From the brief hope of freedom during the Prague Spring of 1968 to Charter 77 and the eventual collapse of the regime in 1989's Velvet Revolution, Kl�ma's revelatory account provides a profoundly rich personal and national history.