The most comprehensive collection to date of Josef Skvorecky's short fiction, When Eve Was Naked is a wonderful introduction to a writer internationally acclaimed for his passion, his wry humor, his insight into human and political frailty, and his inimitable style. These semiautobiographical stories, many narrated by Skvorecky's beloved fictional alter ego -- the tenderhearted cynic, Danny Smiricky -- together form a portrait of the author's own life, following the sweep of the twentieth century and bearing witness to some of its most eventful and tragic times: from bittersweet memories of prewar Prague, to the brutality of Nazi occupation and the terror of World War II, to the arrival of Russian tanks in Czechoslovakia and Skvorecky's enforced exile abroad. Masterfully written, humorous, and wise, When Eve Was Naked is a remarkably revealing work of fiction by one of our most important writers. Book jacket.