Christmas in Prague

By Rick Pryll

"Rick Pryll weaves romance and the search for life's answers with a thoughtful touch." --Tracy Sumner, National Reader's Choice Award winner

Christmas in Prague is a novella from award-winning author, Rick Pryll. Taken from the upcoming novel, Part II of THE CHIMERA OF PRAGUE, set to release in April 2019, this is the story of Joseph, a divorced American twenty-something living as an expat in Prague. He's obsessed with Karina, a Czech waitress-turned-supermodel. She's freshly back from a trip to Italy with her English teacher, and she's ready to give Joseph the attention for which he's been longing. Will his Christmas wish come true?

"The contrasts between [Joseph's] world and Karina's, his ability to pretend and to engage (or not), and the narrator's existential crisis and choice to be alone at the most connected time of the year makes for a novella which is succinct, hard-hitting, and complete unto itself." -- D. Donanvan, Donovan's Literary Services

From Svatý Mikuláš, the eve of the Name Day for Saint Nicholas, on December 5th, through the Christmas holiday, follow along as Joseph gets the full holiday experience in this beautiful old city at the heart of Europe. More than just a love story between a man and a woman, this is a love story between a young man and his adopted city.

Included in this novella, there are recipes for the food and drink that make up the rich Czech Christmas tradition.

"Perfectly encapsulates the loneliness of being in-between self and actualization. The angst, the utter confusion of what it's like to feel alone in a room full of people." -- Bibiana Krall, author of Escape into the Blue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Foolishness Press
• Release date: Nov 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9780974505633

Rick Pryll

Rick Pryll is an award-winning author and poet living in Charlotte since 2002. His book, The Chimera of Prague (Foolishness Press, 2017) was selected the winner of the 2018 New York Festival of Books in the Romance category. Rick is a member of CharlotteLit and the Charlotte Writer’s Club. Most recently, Rick hosted a book marketing session called “Beyond the Book: engaging readers, creating super fans” as a part of the Author Talks series at CharlotteLit. In support of his latest book, Rick held launch events in Charlotte and in Prague, the Czech Republic. Since November 2017, he has been invited to participate in author events in Kentucky, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and is actively seeking additional opportunities to speak and promote his book internationally and domestically. First published to the web in 1994, his hyperfiction short story “LIES” has garnered praise from the Wall Street Journal, SHIFT magazine, and several other publications in print and online.  It is cited in more than seven books, and has been translated into Spanish and Chinese. From 1996 to 2002 Rick lived in Prague.  While there he published two books including Displaced (Foolishness Press, 1998) and Wallow (Foolishness Press, 1999).  His stories and poems have been featured on the pages of THINK and OPTIMISM. Rick attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering by submitting a novella as his thesis.  In 1991, he won MIT's Robert A. Boit Prize for Best Short Story. Rick was born in Dunkirk, New York on the shores of Lake Erie. From the age of three, he grew up in Batavia, New York and graduated from Pembroke Central High School. He lives with his wife, 2018 ArtPop Charlotte artist, Holly Spruck HMCAS, his two kids, Edie (13 years old) and Jack (11 years old), two cats and a puppy.

Book preview

Christmas In Prague

Christmas In Prague

Contents

Praise for Christmas in Prague

Title Page

Image

Quote

Doubting

Warming

Rebounding

Connecting

Reading

Dreaming

Feasting

Giving

Receiving

Waffling

Facing

Acknowledgments

BONUS: Recipes

More Books by Rick Pryll

About the Author

Praise for Christmas in Prague

Christmas in Prague is so wonderfully written. Beautifully-drawn characters who resonate long after you've finished the book. Great detail, so atmospheric. You can see the streets of Prague, smell the scent of the holiday. A true joy of a story.

-Tracy Sumner, National Reader’s Choice winner

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Perfectly encapsulates the loneliness of being in-between self and actualization. The angst, the utter confusion of what it’s like to feel alone in a room full of people.

- Bibiana Krall, author of Escape into the Blue

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"Christmas in Prague is a novella that excerpts the second part of Rick Pryll's full-length The Chimera of Prague, and is a worthy stand-alone holiday story that will engross readers year-round, undoubtedly leading to newcomer interest in Chimera.

Fans of the full-length Chimera will find that by taking this second section and making Christmas in Prague a stand-alone production, Pryll successfully crafts a microcosm of inspection and revelation that offers food for thought even prior readers will want to return to for additional flavors."

- D. Donovan, Donovan’s Literary Services

Copyright © 2018 by Rick Pryll

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2018

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9745056-2-6

Foolishness Press

4619 Water Oak Road

Charlotte, NC 28211

www.rickpryll.com

Although some of the events and locations are real, the novella is a work fiction, and is not meant to accurately represent the actions and conversations of historical figures. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Cover art: Christmas Massacre, Oil on Canvas, 48 inches by 36 inches, © Holly Spruck HMCAS 2018. All rights reserved.

Frontispiece: The Beast, Ink Blob Print, 14 inches by 14 inches, © Holly Spruck HMCAS 2017. All rights reserved.

To Holly

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

— Rumi

DECEMBER

Doubting, 4.12.98

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I’m alone. With people, or without them, I’m utterly alone. Stuck in my head. No one is able to reach in and touch me anymore. I’ve bid farewell to the deepest and the best of my friends. I’m left with nothingness. I can’t help but think that Elijah, my Canadian rube flatmate, is not worthy of my time. I’m sorry. I hate to be judgmental. But he’s not. Neither are blue-haired Bostonian Sadie Mae, or the montréalaise sisters, Meg and Ashley. Three short girls, smart, fun, a good distraction - they’re not what I am looking for. Dark, mysterious, painter Jacques is worthy, at least his myth is worthy, but at times I see through the myth I have built of Jacques. Jacques plays the intellectual. We all do I suppose, but there are holes. Gaping holes.

I’m not satisfied with anyone right now because I’m not satisfied with myself. I'm not unaware of it. I run a hand through my gloomy hair. I push my tortoiseshell glasses up on my nose.

Thinking like this keeps me from worrying about my ex-wife Rachel or Karina, my 10-month obsession, or any of the girls who’re ersatz for what I want. What I want is a connection, a sense of wholeness. What I want’s the sound round fullness of completion, a validation of love. I have plenty of love, true love, good love, warm friendly love, but it isn’t that fleshy exhortation, it isn’t the giving of hour upon hour to the celebration of existence which is sex. I need sex. I need a companion. I need a mate and I don’t have one. The problem is not my obsession or my ex-wife or my