Michal Viewegh

Michal Viewegh

Michal Viewegh (born 31 March 1962 in Prague)[1] is a contemporary Czech writer. He writes about romantic relationships of his contemporaries with humour, variously successful irony as well as attempts at deeper meaningfulness; he is sometimes compared to Nick Hornby by his fans.

Sales

His books, since the late 1990s published every spring, usually sell about 50,000 copies each, bringing him an upper-high-class income unparalleled among Czech writers. By his own boastful admissions, his royalties from a successful book are equal to roughly 8 years of an average Czech salary. His 2004 income was CZK four million. His work has been translated into 23 languages.[1]

Awards

He is the recipient of the Jiří Orten Award (1993) and the Magnesia Litera Readers’ award (2005).[1]

Political views

Viewegh is a political adversary of the former Czech president Václav Klaus. In some of his recent novels this attitude has been strongly and pointedly manifested.[2]

Scandals

In his column for Lidove noviny (Czech newspaper and online news site) published on 1st October 2018, Viewegh criticised Christine Blayse Ford's allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh on the grounds that "putting her in an empty room, groping her, covering her mouth while trying to undress her" was an "innocent high-school petting" and that he thanks God that he, as a pubescent, was free to grope his female schoolmates without endangering his future career, without any "North-American cow" complaining about it. [3]. He has been criticised in turn by criminologist Pavel Houdek in a published open letter, that his views are what makes victims of sexual abuse keep it to themselves. [4]

Health issues

In late 2012 Viewegh suffered a traumatic aortic rupture and his health condition was serious. His difficult recovery is detailed in his "diary-novel" Můj život po životě (My Life After Life, 2013)[1]

Bibliography

  • 1990. Názory na vraždu ("Opinions on a Murder")
  • 1992. Báječná léta pod psa ("Bliss Was It In Bohemia") - humorous bestseller about the Communist era; adapted to film as Those Wonderful Years That Sucked in 1997 (co-scripted by Jan Novák)
  • 1993. Nápady laskavého čtenáře ("Thoughts of a Loving Reader") - collection of literary parodies
  • 1994. Výchova dívek v Čechách ("Bringing Up Girls in Bohemia") - translated by A. G. Brain (pseudonym of Gerald Turner) in 1996, ISBN 1-887378-05-7; made into a film in 1997
  • 1996. Účastníci zájezdu ("Tourists on an Excursion") - made into a film in 2006, successful at Tribeca Film Festival
  • 1998. Zapisovatelé otcovský lásky ("Notes on Fatherly Love")
  • 1999. Povídky o manželství a sexu ("Tales of Marriage and Sex") - adapted to film as Shameless in 2008 (co-written with Jan Hřebejk)
  • 2000. Nové nápady laskavého čtenáře ("New Thoughts of a Loving Reader") - second collection of literary parodies
  • 2001. Román pro ženy ("A Woman's Novel") - made into a film in 2005
  • 2002. Báječná léta s Klausem ("Wonderful Years with Klaus") - loose sequel to the first Wonderful Years criticising Václav Klaus before the Czech legislative election, 2002
  • 2003. Případ nevěrné Kláry ("The Case of Unfaithful Clara") - the 2009 film of the same name is loosely based on the novel
  • 2004. Vybíjená ("Dodgeball")
  • 2004. Tři v háji – with Halina Pawlowská and Iva Hercíková
  • 2006. Lekce tvůrčího psaní ("The Creative Writing Lesson") - novella
  • 2006. Báječný rok ("Wonderful Year") - a diary of 2005
  • 2007. Andělé všedního dne ("Angels of the Everyday") - novella with experience about his father's death
  • 2008. Román pro muže ("A Man's Novel")
  • 2009. Něco na těch Vánocích být musí ("What's So Special About Christmas, Anyway?") - short story collection published in 2010 by Garamond (Czech/English parallel text)
  • 2010. Biomanželka ("Eco-Wife")
  • 2011. Mafie v Praze ("The Mafia in Prague")
  • 2012. Mráz přichází z Hradu ("The Big Freeze from Prague Castle")
  • 2013. Můj život po životě ("My Life After Life")
  • 2015. Biomanžel ("Eco-Husband")

Collections of newspaper columns:

  • Švédské stoly aneb Jací jsme (2000)
  • Na dvou židlích (2004)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Michal Viewegh". Czech Lit. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Johnston, Rosie (4 March 2005). "The Wonderful Years of Bumper Booksales: Michal Viewegh's Enduring Popularity". Czech Radio. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "VIEWEGH: Děkuji, že jsem se narodil v zemi, kde jsem mohl na vrstevnice sáhnout". Lidovky.cz. 1 October 2018.
  4. ↑ "Právník Houdek píše Vieweghovi: Přesně kvůli lidem, jako jste vy, oběti znásilnění mlčely". Lidovky.cz. 2 October 2018.

Works online in English

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