Mishistory is not an easy read. It blends the present with the past, fantasy with reality. Eman Podoba, who guides us through the story, links other characters to himself, in whom the author depicts the uniqueness of human lives without sentimentality. The pivotal moment is 17 November 1989, when Eman is hit over the head with a baton during the famous demonstration on Národní třída, which was the start of the Velvet Revolution, and ends up in a psychiatric hospital with permanent brain damage. Although two real human fates are intertwined here – the aforementioned patient Eman and the shop assistant Hana Matějů, who one day gets stuck in a jammed elevator – Mishistory is one big parable. And that’s what makes it a first-rate novel.