The King of Warsaw - Szczepan Twardoch - 2020



By: Szczepan Twardoch, Sean Gasper Bye - translator
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 04-21-20
Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical,
Language: English
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Format: mp3 64/48 mono



Winner of the EBRD Literature Prize awarded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

A city ignited by hate. A man in thrall to power. The ferociously original award-winning bestseller by Poland’s literary phenomenon - his first to be translated into English.

It’s 1937. Poland is about to catch fire.

In the boxing ring, Jakub Szapiro commands respect, revered as a hero by the Jewish community. Outside, he instills fear as he muscles through Warsaw as enforcer for a powerful crime lord. Murder and intimidation have their rewards. He revels in luxury, spends lavishly, and indulges in all the pleasures that barbarity offers. For a man battling to be king of the underworld, life is good. Especially when it’s a frightening time to be alive.

Hitler is rising. Fascism is escalating. As a specter of violence hangs over Poland like a black cloud, its marginalized and vilified Jewish population hopes for a promise of sanctuary in Palestine. Jakub isn’t blind to the changing tide. What’s unimaginable to him is abandoning the city he feels destined to rule. With the raging instincts that guide him in the ring and on the streets, Jakub feels untouchable. He must maintain the order he knows - even as a new world order threatens to consume him.

©2016 by Szczepan Twardoch. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2020 by Sean Gasper Bye.

Critic Reviews

“Szczepan Twardoch has brought Poland back onto the world literature stage.” (Die Welt)

“Twardoch’s depictions of individual characters, atmospheres, and political currents are precise, vivid, and ecstatic, almost to the point of madness.” (Rolling Stone Germany)

“Ultimately, The King seems a study in extremes: love and violence, sympathy and revulsion, fantasy and reality. That Twardoch can balance these extremes is a testament to his skill.” (World Literature Today)





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