Pavel & I (52 page)

Like all stories, and perhaps more so than some, Peterson's wild yarn also draws on those told by a host of fellow fabulists, many of whom far outstrip his own modest literary talents. These have contrived to wriggle into his memory, shape his vocabulary, and fuel his imagination. Unlike many storytellers, ours seems sufficiently indiscreet to pay overt homage to at least some of his heroes – above all to Dostoevsky and Dickens, both of whom may have wished to protest such imposition. In the spirit of Peterson's indiscretion one should nonetheless add a few names, equally referenced in his tale, though perhaps less openly. These include Wilkie Collins, whose fat Count finds himself reincarnated in an officer's garb to plot new villainy, and Günter Grass, that post-war poet who holds a near monopoly on clever midgets, and whose sense of line and grammar proved irresistible at times. It may be thought disconcerting that fiction throws as deep a shadow over this novel as the sombre realities of historical fact, but this, alas, cannot be helped.

I would also like to take this occasion to thank those people who have helped me in writing the novel, either by providing first-hand information about the period, or through their careful responses to, and corrections of, my manuscript. These include: Simon Lipskar at Writers House, Kathy Belden and Mike Jones at Bloomsbury; Richard
Lapidus, Kristin Semmens, Aya Soika, Bernhard Fulda, Eckhard Leberl, Ivan and Anna Crozier, and Johanna Greenwood. I would also like to thank my family for putting up with a son who has taken it into his head to write in a foreign tongue, James Boyd White for lending me his name, and my wife, Chantal Wright, whose editorial pen marks every page of this book. Your efforts were greatly appreciated.

Dan Vyleta is the son of Czech refugees who emigrated to Germany in the late 1960s. He has a Phd in history from the University of Cambridge. He lives and works in Edmonton, Canada. This is his first novel.

Copyright © 2008 by Dan Vyleta

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whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief
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Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York

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ISBN: 978-1-59691-451-3 (hardcover)

First published by Bloomsbury USA in 2008
This e-book edition published in 2011

E-book ISBN: 978-1-60819-651-7

www.bloomsburyusa.com