Interesting--full of oddly familiar tidbits, about people and events I've heard of from other people and books. And it's also a fascinating look at life in Czechoslovakia from the early '60s on, from a singular view--that of an American living and working there, but free to come and go. For all that, I'd give it 4 stars. I really enjoyed reading this.

But that singular viewpoint also detracts (not as much as it might, as he is married to a Czech woman, and they do have their share of worries for her son, etc.). Though Deitch does address the different problems the normal Czech-on-the-street may have been facing (as well as some more famous Czechs, like Havel), I often got the feeling that he wasn't really connecting to that.

Also, the book could have used some serious editing. It reads very much like a printed diary, with all the exclamation marks and unexamined (or overly-lovingly examined) pet theories. ( )