Postcard from London

Ivn Mndy (19181995) has been called the prose poet of Budapest, and this volume of short stories presents the first comprehensive collection of his work in English. His early oeuvre created an urban mythology full of picaresque characters inhabiting the seedier neighborhoods of the city: its flea-market stalls, second-run cinemas, and old-fashioned coffeehouses. The stories from the later decades of Mndys life, often bordering on the absurd, introduce many autobiographical elements spun around the authors alter-ego, Jnos Zsmboky, whose hapless adventures on a rare trip abroad constitute this group of stories, including Postcard from London. Mndys unique style at times borrows techniques from films and radio plays, his quirky cuts creating a flicker of images seen in the minds eye. Memory and perception, time and place spin in narrative legerdemain that invites and rewards the readers active participation.