Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
A Humorous – Insofar as That Is Possible – Novella from the Ghetto
Distributed for the Karolinum Press, Charles University
Translated by Alex Zucker and With an Afterword by Jáchym Topol
212 pages
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30 color plates
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5 1/2 x 7 1/2
Review Quotes
A. M. Bakalar | Los Angeles Review of Books
“To write a novel that makes you laugh is a great skill; to write a novel that takes place in a ghetto and still makes you laugh is a true feat. Pick’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals does that and more. On the one hand, it is a paean to the human character, which fights for survival and dignity in the face of certain death. On the other, it is the tender and surprisingly funny story of one boy in extraordinary circumstances. . . . Absurdity and black humor are the very tools of survival, a way through the nightmare. This powerful and moving book helps us make peace with, if not sense of, the unthinkable.”
Bethanne Patrick | Literary Hub
"Now here’s a subtitle. . . . Part of the Modern Czech Classics series from Charles University, translated by Alex Zucker, Society covers well-trodden Holocaust ground in surprising ways, including 'humorous,' insofar as that is possible. It’s 1943, and tuberculosis-ridden teenaged Tony has been deported from Nazi-occupied Prague to the Terezin ghetto. From his hospital bed he decides to start his SPCA, and convinces his friends and mother to support his care for a mouse he names Helga—the only living creature available. In 1944, the Nazis begin sending Terezin 'residents' to Auschwitz. Yes, things get darker. So does Pick’s humor, which is based on his own teen years in Terezin. Although the author died in 1983, his sister Zuzana helped Zucker with details. Highly recommend."
David Vaughan | Radio Praha
“A brilliant novel of the Holocaust. . . . A remarkable book by many standards.”
Die Welt, on the German edition
“In situations of deepest despair, most brutal and inhumane treatment, Pick derives his strength for humor from an acknowledgement of absurdity. This makes the book virtually timeless.”
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