Lázně v ráji, aneb Houtyš – Medek Richard (2016)

The new novel "Lázně v Ráji, aneb Houtyš" by Richard Medek takes place in the Sedmihorky spa in the Czech Paradise, where the main character Ricardo arrives after an unexpected event that attempts to change his life. He wins a considerable sum of money in an international lottery with a ticket he found on the street. The money, which doesn't actually belong to him, but he has to figure out how to deal with it. In the spa, he discovers a world that is not entirely foreign to him, encountering a number of characters with whom life has once connected him. But what to do with that money? The novel is interwoven with a distinctive humor, a light satire on the life we live and on certain phenomena that surround us, memories of the legendary Prague pub Houtyš from the 'golden' era of socialist realism over thirty years ago, from which musicians and bands such as Yo Yo Band, Ivan Hlas, Krausberry, Bluesberry, Žlutý pes, and others emerged. The world of the spa and the lost 'houtyšovský' world of old friends Beny, Mick, and Fík intertwine with the search for a way out of an unexpected financial windfall, all in a light narrative style, celebrating life and its corners, which are so ingeniously, humorously, and with perspective revealed in the book.