The Game for Real - Softcover

"For me, the pinnacles of prose are Hasek, Kafka, Weiner, Klima." -- Bohumil Hrabal, author of Harlequin's Millions

"These novellas are intense, funny, and vivid explorations of selfhood and identity. Their publication was long overdue." -- Electric Literature

"Well worth the effort for moments of beauty and the overwhelming sense of anxiety." -- Publishers Weekly

"In this strange and compelling novel . . . the settings and characters morph and blend in a constantly shifting phantasmagoria of existential angst. One of Modernism's true gems." -- Numéro Cinq

"He really is a kind of European mind, that brings in the experience of trench warfare in Serbia, of cafés of a provincial capital of the Hapsburg Empire and a close connection with the Parisian avant-garde, as well as just the fact that his stories are just so enjoyable to read." -- Radio Prague

"Weiner's strength lies in his exceptional turns of phrase. . . . [His] arresting prose and aptitude for depicting the nuances of human cruelty should . . . encourage future translations." -- Times Literary Supplement

"The crowning achievement of Richard Weiner's career and one of the most powerful works of Czech Modernist literature." -- PEN America

"Richard Weiner is considered to be one of the most important Czech
writers of the 20th century." -- Alfred Thomas, professor of European Literature, University of Illinois

Compared to Kafka and a member of the Surrealists, Richard Weiner is one of European literature’s best-kept secrets.The Game for Real marks the long overdue arrival of his dreamlike, anxiety-ridden fiction into English.

The book opens with The Game of Quartering, where an unnamed hero discovers his double. Surely, he reasons, ifhe has a double, then his double must also have a double too, and so on . . . What follows is a grotesquely hilarious, snowballing spree through Paris, where real-life landmarks disintegrate into theaters, puppet shows, and, ultimately, a funeral.

Following this, The Game for the Honor of Payback neatly inverts things: instead of a branching, expanding adventure, a man known as Shame” embarks on a quest that collapses inward. Slapped by someone he despises, he launches a doomed crusade to return the insult. As the stakes grow ever higher, it seems that Shame will stop at nothing — even if he discovers he’s chasing his own tail.

Blending metaphysical questions with farcical humor, bizarre twists, and acute psychology,The Game for Real is a riveting exploration of who we are — and why we can’t be so sure we know.