The Thing About Prague: How I Gave It All Up for a New Life in Europe's Most Eccentric City

A smart and funny travel memoir about the highs and lows of trying to establish a life in a place that values beer and potatoes above everything else

Freewheeling Rachael Weiss gave up her life in Australia to move to Prague, her ancestral home, intending to live there for the rest of her life. In fact, she lasted there for three years before visa restrictions and disillusionment caused her to leave the country. Even though she is at times exasperated by the petty bureaucracy and customs of a country that values beer and potatoes above everything else, and even though she is frustrated by her attempts to master a very difficult language (only spoken by 10 million people), her efforts to engage both socially and romantically with the locals are wonderfully funny. Social embarrassment and mortification rub shoulders with the kind of bureaucratic absurdity that inspired Kafka in former times. This surprising and generous memoir is full of warmth and Rachael's unstoppable sociability.