Fiction
Dybuk mniemany
Andrzej Bart
Keynote
Prewar Warsaw, the German occupation,
the ghetto – and a roguish spirit
demanding a voice. A daring novel about
the intertwined fates of Poles and Jews.
Selling Points
The topic of the Holocaust and
the complicated nature of Polish–Jewish
relations addressed in a highly original and
surprising way.
A mastery of the novel form: narrative
bursts and toying with convention, as in
the best of postmodern prose.
The core of the novel – the story of
Daniel Czarewicz – is a classic pulp tale,
full of suspense and twists.
A strong, well-defined, idiosyncratic
protagonist who elides the conventions of
Holocaust fiction.
Moving autobiographical plotlines
cleverly woven in.
One of the more ambitious attempts
in recent literature to preserve the living
memory of the war.
Levity, wit, and irony – the author’s
calling cards.
The grand return of Andrzej Bart, one
of Poland’s most important contemporary
writers, often described as a Polish
Pynchon.
Description
journal of the author – a veteran writer,
consciously removed from the world. His
life on the margins of society – moreover,
during the pandemic – is interrupted by
the specter of Daniel Czarewicz, a Jew,
the son of an influential prewar film
producer. Czarewicz chooses to confide
in Bart the story of his life, particularly
from the time of World War II and
the Holocaust. This newcomer of the title,
a visitor from another world, desperately
wants his story of survival to be heard
and recorded. And so his story (fictional,
but formed from many real ones) differs
from the typical narratives of that era.
Who was Czarewicz really? Maybe he’s still
alive, endlessly haunting our collective
consciousness? And will his story,
constantly interrupted by the modern
world, ever reach its conclusion?
Andrzej Bart, with his signature verve,
unfurls a vast nebula of plotlines and
circumstances before us, enticing and
deceiving the reader, while demonstrating
the power and pleasure that can come only
from great literature.
“This is an ostentatiously autobiographical
work, exceptional in Bart’s oeuvre…
A fascinating book, soaked through with
the sauce of adventure, highly effective”.
Dariusz Nowacki, Gazeta Wyborcza
“The So-Called Dybbuk is a tale of
bitter disappointments, but also of
extraordinary vitality. Our imaginations
form a picture of a witness who is also
a survivor. The Holocaust is an integral
part of this story of existential alienation,
but it is also a part of the confession of
this witness, who clearly states at the end
that the world he knew is now gone”.
Jarosław Czechowicz, Krytycznym okiem
Target Market
Fans of historical fiction.
Readers of ambitious contemporary prose. Release date: 2021
Pages: 408
ISBN: 978-83-08-07404-6
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Other covers
A Supposed Dybbuk
Andrzej BartKeynote
Prewar Warsaw, the German occupation,
the ghetto – and a roguish spirit
demanding a voice. A daring novel about
the intertwined fates of Poles and Jews.
Selling Points
The topic of the Holocaust and
the complicated nature of Polish–Jewish
relations addressed in a highly original and
surprising way.
A mastery of the novel form: narrative
bursts and toying with convention, as in
the best of postmodern prose.
The core of the novel – the story of
Daniel Czarewicz – is a classic pulp tale,
full of suspense and twists.
A strong, well-defined, idiosyncratic
protagonist who elides the conventions of
Holocaust fiction.
Moving autobiographical plotlines
cleverly woven in.
One of the more ambitious attempts
in recent literature to preserve the living
memory of the war.
Levity, wit, and irony – the author’s
calling cards.
The grand return of Andrzej Bart, one
of Poland’s most important contemporary
writers, often described as a Polish
Pynchon.
Description
journal of the author – a veteran writer,
consciously removed from the world. His
life on the margins of society – moreover,
during the pandemic – is interrupted by
the specter of Daniel Czarewicz, a Jew,
the son of an influential prewar film
producer. Czarewicz chooses to confide
in Bart the story of his life, particularly
from the time of World War II and
the Holocaust. This newcomer of the title,
a visitor from another world, desperately
wants his story of survival to be heard
and recorded. And so his story (fictional,
but formed from many real ones) differs
from the typical narratives of that era.
Who was Czarewicz really? Maybe he’s still
alive, endlessly haunting our collective
consciousness? And will his story,
constantly interrupted by the modern
world, ever reach its conclusion?
Andrzej Bart, with his signature verve,
unfurls a vast nebula of plotlines and
circumstances before us, enticing and
deceiving the reader, while demonstrating
the power and pleasure that can come only
from great literature.
“This is an ostentatiously autobiographical
work, exceptional in Bart’s oeuvre…
A fascinating book, soaked through with
the sauce of adventure, highly effective”.
Dariusz Nowacki, Gazeta Wyborcza
“The So-Called Dybbuk is a tale of
bitter disappointments, but also of
extraordinary vitality. Our imaginations
form a picture of a witness who is also
a survivor. The Holocaust is an integral
part of this story of existential alienation,
but it is also a part of the confession of
this witness, who clearly states at the end
that the world he knew is now gone”.
Jarosław Czechowicz, Krytycznym okiem
Target Market
Fans of historical fiction.
Readers of ambitious contemporary prose.
Pages: 408
ISBN: 978-83-08-07404-6
Other covers