{"product_id":"i-served-the-king-of-england-9780811216876","title":"I Served the King of England","description":"First published in 1971 in a typewritten edition, then finally printed in book form in 1989, \u003cem\u003eI Served the King of England\u003c\/em\u003e is \"an extraordinary and subtly tragicomic novel\" (\u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e), telling the tale of Ditie, a hugely ambitious but simple waiter in a deluxe Prague hotel in the years before World War II. Ditie is called upon to serve not the King of England, but Haile Selassie. It is one of the great moments in his life. Eventually, he falls in love with a Nazi woman athlete as the Germans are invading Czechoslovakia. After the war, through the sale of valuable stamps confiscated from the Jews, he reaches the heights of his ambition, building a hotel. He becomes a millionaire, but with the institution of communism, he loses everything and is sent to inspect mountain roads. Living in dreary circumstances, Ditie comes to terms with the inevitability of his death, and with his place in history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHrabal, Bohumil:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eBohumil Hrabal\u003c\/strong\u003e (1914-1997) was born in Moravia. He is the author of such classics as \u003cem\u003eClosely Watched Trains\u003c\/em\u003e (made into an Academy-Award winning film by Jiri Menzel), \u003cem\u003eThe Death of Mr. Baltisberger\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eI Served the King of England\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eToo Loud a Solitude\u003c\/em\u003e. He fell to his death from the fifth floor of a Prague hospital, apparently trying to feed the pigeons.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWilson, Paul:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003ePaul Wilson\u003c\/strong\u003e lives in Canada and has translated works by Vaclav Haval, Bohumil Hrabal, Ivan Kilma, and Josef Skvorecky.","brand":"New Directions Publishing Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50648909742354,"sku":"9780811216876","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_0fea76b6-139b-4e1f-ad04-67d8f0ee5654.jpg?v=1733252530","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/i-served-the-king-of-england-9780811216876","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}