Bringing Up Girls/Hohemia

One may wonder why a reviewer would take the time to write an insightful negative review nearly as long as the book itself. Some people just want an amusing read.From Chapter X: "Beata was of the opinion that present-day Prague was Paris of the Twenties for the Americans. I would see, she said, that something really great would emerge out of that explosion of creativity (it struck me that it wasn't so much an explosion of creativity as an explosion of private joy at the rate of the crown to the dollar, but I held my tongue)..."

This book is written for the meticulous reader about culture, and delicately provides "subtle" societal mores about the new eastern bloc countries simply discovering their new freedoms. A graduate student in international studies would find this book fascinating to read. This is one of those books that gets "underneath the skin" of the Czech culture and it becomes valuable for someone interested in doing business and learning about the country. While the title and the story quickly seems too provoking, its translation and overall writing presentation is mature and reveals the author's sophistication as a classic story.