'Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age'

Fans of the certain kind of discursive middle European storytelling that seems to be about everything and nothing all at once will be happy to learn that Bohumil Hrabal’s Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age is once again in print. Brief summary: “Speaking to a group of sunbathing women who remind him of lovers past, this elderly roué tells the story of his life — or at least unburdens himself of a lifetime’s worth of stories. Thus we learn of amatory conquests (and humiliations), of scandals both private and public, of military adventures and domestic feuds, of what things were like “in the days of the monarchy” and how they’ve changed since. As the book tumbles restlessly forward, and the comic tone takes on darker shadings, we realize we are listening to a man talking as much out of desperation as from exuberance.” The book is one epic sentence, but it works; it’s one of those stories you read in a single sitting and then go back to reread to see how much you missed the first time. Recommended!