{"product_id":"i-served-the-king-of-bohumil-hrabal-9780811216876","title":"I Served the King of England","description":"First published in 1971 in a typewritten edition, then finally printed in book form in 1989, \u003cem\u003eI Served the King of England\u003c\/em\u003e is \"an extraordinary and subtly tragicomic novel\" (\u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e), telling the tale of Ditie, a hugely ambitious but simple waiter in a deluxe Prague hotel in the years before World War II. Ditie is called upon to serve not the King of England, but Haile Selassie. It is one of the great moments in his life. Eventually, he falls in love with a Nazi woman athlete as the Germans are invading Czechoslovakia. After the war, through the sale of valuable stamps confiscated from the Jews, he reaches the heights of his ambition, building a hotel. He becomes a millionaire, but with the institution of communism, he loses everything and is sent to inspect mountain roads. Living in dreary circumstances, Ditie comes to terms with the inevitability of his death, and with his place in history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Bohumil Hrabal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 081121687X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780811216876\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New Directions Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/31\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.96h x 6.58w x 0.65d","brand":"Bohumil Hrabal","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44048193880319,"sku":"9780811216876","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_f49f9c8a-9ee9-44fd-aa8e-3c10d926e697.jpg?v=1684994426","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/i-served-the-king-of-bohumil-hrabal-9780811216876","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}