Novels are like single-person households. So what happens when a second author moves into the book? A two-person novel emerges, the tense coexistence of two stories which meet and yet pass each other on every double page. One story belongs to Daniel, whose father is dying, the other to Zuzana, who has left her partner. The only things connecting them are the apartment they share and the palindromes written on the back of notes. But can’t life also be read backwards and forwards? Perhaps. In any case, it’s up to the reader which side they start from. But be warned: what is a game for one may be a life-changing choice for Daniel and Zuzana.  

Published in 2025 by Host Publishers in the Czech Republic.
336 pages / 13,5 cm × 20,5 cm

Also by Jan Němec

In his most personal novel to date, Jan Němec turns his own five-year relationship into the core of the narrative, tracing its arc from first intimacy to final rupture. The book, which emerged from the need to understand what went wrong with him and his girlfriend, shows how the death of a relationship can spill over into the birth of a novel as a kind of self-preserving literary reincarnation. Autofictional in nature, Ways of Writing about Love is enriched by a range of narrative devices, including allusions to iconic works of prose and excerpts from letters and news reports. Intimate and subtly controversial, the novel fuses author, narrator, and central character into a single voice, breaking the conventions of narration and testing the limits of what prose can be.

An excerpt from the novel, translated by David Short, has been featured in Asymptote.

Published in 2019 by Host Publishers in the Czech Republic.
405 pages / 13,5 cm × 20,5 cm

Also by Jan Němec

A History of Light delves into the fascinating life of František Drtikol (1883–1961), an important figure in early-twentieth-century photography who is all but forgotten in contemporary times. A dandy from a small mining town, a world-famous photographer whose business went bankrupt, a master of the nude who never had much luck with women, a mystic and a Buddhist who believed in communism—a man whose numerous contradictions were evident externally and synthesized internally. A unique blend of fiction and biography, this novel vividly portrays Drtikol’s life, tracing the diverse stages of his career and offering detailed, almost encyclopedic insights into the times and places pivotal to his journey.

Published in 2013 by Host Publishers in the Czech Republic.
472 pages / 13,5 × 20,5 cm

ALso by Jan Němec