In "The Arsonist" (1935), Hostovsky uses puberty as an emblematic form of outsiderdom -- it is the tale of a fifteen year old boy tn a small eastern Bohemian border town threatened by an invisible arsonist. But the town is in the world, and the world is in the throes of radical change. The influence of expressionism of Hostovsky's early work is evident, with a mix of mysticism, irony, and wit. Exiled to America during World War Il, when his Jewish family perished in the concentration camps, Hostovsky saw many of his later works published in the US, Britain and throughout Europe.