The Chimera of Prague

WINNER, 2018 New York Book Festival for Romance Whether you lived there, just visited, or have been dreaming about Prague, this book will immerse you in just what it is that has captivated generations. Diving into the brokenness in himself, divorced American expat, Joseph, allows us into his delicate dysfunction as he explores the magical, mystical, quirky city of Prague, chasing women and trying to understand his failed marriage. Joseph Przbylski Jr. is six feet tall, with a shock of inky black hair. He's contemplative, athletic, and he wears tortoise-shell glasses. Freshly divorced, he quits his corporate job at a bank in Manhattan to spend some time abroad and find himself. He calls it a "gap year" a term reserved for kids between high school and college, or college graduates about to start their adult lives. For Joseph, it's a gap between his devastating divorce and his uncertain future. In his increasing loneliness, living in this magically romantic city, Joseph obsesses over a waitress. If it weren't for the parade of distracting women, he might have a shot with Karina, the tall slender Czech model-wanna-be. He keeps a journal and finds himself digging through fragments of memory to try and discover where things first went wrong in his first love. He starts at the end, the scene where he and his high school girlfriend go off, in opposite directions, to college. He progresses backward through their poignant, mostly-innocent romance to their first kiss, creating a tumultuous rendering of love lost The story-within-the-story is an ode to his home in Western New York. It is riddled with a barrage of 80's pop culture references. But the real love story here is between Joseph and his adopted city, Prague. Before he can find the relationship he craves, Joseph may need to unearth a way to love himself again.