End of the World: Poetry and Prose

Sometimes called the Czech Bukowski, and more widely known by the epithet Magor (which translates roughly to fool or madman), Ivan Jirous was one of the most significant figures in the Czechoslovak cultural underground of the 1960s through the '80s.  Although trained as an art historian and famed for his poetry, Jirous was convinced that it was actually rock and roll music that held the greatest potential to enact change under the repressive regime of communist Czechoslovakia. He designated himself as the artistic director of the dissident rock band The Plastic People of the Universe, legendary for psychedelic music that was heavily influenced by nonconformist Western acts like Frank Zappa and The Velvet Underground. Alongside other figures from the musical underground, Jirous was arrested in 1976the second of five prison sentences he would serve for his dissentwhich helped bring about the landmark civil rights initiative known as Charter 77. In the wake of 1989s Velvet Revolution, Válav Havelthe first president of the Czech Republicwas to say that Jirous and his unwavering commitment to liberation played no small part in casting off the yoke of Soviet oppression.

End of the World is the first major collection in English of the works of this legendary Czech madman. Although nicknamed for his aggressive and rebellious behavior, Jirouss writing reveal a refined, sophisticated, and even tender sensibility. Translated in part by Paul Wilson, an original member of the Plastic People, the book gathers his poems and letters from prison, as well as his book-length prose work, The True Story of the Plastic People, alongside critical essays on Jirouss life and work. End of the World is an ideal introduction to the raucous writer who playwright Tom Stoppard referred to as one of the most interesting personalities in modern Czech history.
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