Fu(*n*)k Bomb

Prague, 1989. As the Communist regime begins to tremble, a young cultural functionary named Jiří is summoned to the office of President Gustáv Husák. The solution to the growing dissident threat? Funk.Thus begins an audacious experiment: a state-sponsored funk band designed to win back the youth with irresistible rhythms and ideologically sound lyrics. What starts as a loyal mission soon spirals into chaos, as party infighting, artistic success, and political paranoia collide. Before long, Jiří and his band-Funky Leninz-find themselves branded dissidents while trying to preserve the very system that created them.Blending grotesque humor with cultural insight, Fu(n)k Bomb is both a loving homage to funk-from James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic to Prazský výběr and Plastic People of the Universe-and a brilliant commentary on the final absurdities of Communist power. Translated with verve by Charles S. Kraszewski, this novel is a riotous journey into music, history, and the strange ways systems collapse.

Karel Veselý (b. December 13, 1976, Znojmo) is a Czech music journalist, publicist, and author. He studied English and philosophy at Masaryk University before becoming a leading freelance critic and writer for publications like A2larm, Aktuálně.cz, and Alarm magazine, as well as Czech Radio Wave. His books include Hudba ohně (2010), BombaFunk (2017), Vsechny kočky jsou sedé (2020), and Hudba srdce (2024)-the latter longlisted for the Magnesia Litera prize. He also produces acclaimed podcasts and documentary projects on music and cultural history. Charles S. Kraszewski (born 1962) is a poet and translator, creative in both English and Polish. He is the author of three volumes of original verse in English (Diet of Nails; Beast; Chanameed), and two in Polish (Hallo, Sztokholm; Skowycik). He also authored two satirical novel Accomplices, You Ask? and At the Tone (San Francisco: Montag, 2021, 2024). He translates from Polish, Czech and Slovak into English, and from English and Spanish into Polish. He is a member of the Union of Polish Writers Abroad (London) and of the Association of Polish Writers (SPP, Kraków). In 2022 he was awarded the Gloria Artis medal (III Class) by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Poland and in 2023 was presented with the ZAiKS (Polish Society of Authors) award for translation into a foreign language.