The swell season: A text on the most important things in life (International fiction list)

In the six tales of The Swell Season, Skvorecky traces the libidinous ardours of young Danny, a teenager growing up in the forties. These wonderful tales, full of wry humour and unexpected plot twists, seem to add up to a fond portrait of an innocent era - this is, however, wartime Czechoslovakia, and the fragile world of the adolescent falls under the shadow of the Nazi presence.