The book Without a Space Bar by Zdenko Fajčák, a young author living in Prague, was released with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the SR in the publishing house Pectus towards the end of the last year. It is a collection of short stories with protagonists who find themselves in manifold situations. The stories often close with a surprising turn. The festive presentation of the author’s début took place on February 9, 2016 on the premises of the Slovak House in Prague under the auspices of Vladimír Skalský, Chair of the Slovak World Association abroad.
At the beginning the author explained the atypical book title: “I wrote all short stories on my laptop which does not have a space bar. My nephew Oliver pulled it out a few years ago. My style and my writing may be summed up like this: without a pause, without a space bar.” The presented short stories were read by the godfather of the book Radovan Potočár, the winner of many literary competitions, a blogger, a starting politician and journalist. The gifted pianist Kristína Koščíková played folk songs, songs by Jaroslav Filip but also by Fryderyk Chopin.
On the book cover there is an illustration by Ivan Gubik, who at first refused to give his consent to its use. “This artist does not communicate with the outside world too much,” the author said. “He does not show his drawings almost anyone so it was demanding to persuade him to allow one to be used. I’m glad that we succeeded in the end.” The book was christened with matches and the attendants of the christening party took the offered books immediately.
