Josef Hirsal's experimental novel is a Dada-like romp through the life of a young man born into a Bohemian peasant family. Told in five parts, the novel begins with "a word to the wise", moves on to the text proper, proceeds with notes and with notes to the notes, and ends with a note on the notes to the notes.More than just a tongue-in-cheek parody of a literary memoir, however, A Bohemian Youth is social history of the first rank: it is a glimpse of the First Czechoslovak Republic as seen through the eyes of a young peasant firmly grounded in the provinces. It abounds in the kind of intimate detail not found in history books -- the manners of a Slovak servant girl; the mores of the towns homosexual; the sounds of popular music; the way people eat in wartime. At the same time, A Bohemian Youth is a wrenching and hilarious tale of its hero's emotional and sexual awakening.