Cutting It Short

Bohumil Hrabal was born in 1914 in Brno-Zidenice, Moravia. He received a degree in Law from Prague’s Charles University, and lived in Prague since the late 1940s. In the 1950s he worked as a manual laborer in the Kladno ironworks, from which he drew inspiration for his “hyper-realist” texts he was writing at that time. He won international acclaim for such books as I Served the King of England and Too Loud a Solitude. Hrabal is considered, along with Jaroslav Hasek and Karel Capek, as one of the greatest Czech writers of the 20th century, and perhaps the most important in the post-war period. In February 1997 he flew out of his hospital window never to return.

James Naughton won two Tony Awards for his starring roles in City of Angels and Chicago on Broadway. He directed the acclaimed revival of Our Town, starring Paul Newman, on Broadway and for PBS. His television appearances include Worricker: Turks & Caicos, Hostages, Damages, and Gossip Girl. His films include Factory Girl, The Devil Wears Prada, and The Glass Menagerie. He has recorded his debut album It’s About Time on DRG Records.