Byk (BULL)

Life is a theater. Life is a labyrinth. Sometimes there’s no escape from either one. Szczepan Twardoch’s latest novel is about a man with a past but no future.

Robert Mamok is a fifty-year-old divorcee struggling with his own identity. He is embroiled in a scandal involving his public image, from which, it seems, there is no good way out. The picture is rounded out by a family secret and complicated relationships with his loved ones, stemming from his strict Silesian upbringing.

Mamok steps onto the stage and begins an intense monologue, word by word coming to terms with his past, with himself, and with the whole world. With the force of a wild animal, he hurls accusations, asks questions, and seeks to discover what is happening to him — and who he is.

You’re the only one who ever talked to me like that, Roboczek — remember? You don’t remember a thing; there’s nothing left in that head of yours, nothing. And Roboczek would show off his report card — what an idiot. In high school, it was “so talented, yet so lazy.” But you always gave me money for my report card. On the sly, when no one was looking. Just don’t tell her. And then Aunt Hilda would come by, and she’d shove bills into my hand, too. Just don’t tell her, right?
(excerpt from a book)

Byk is the first play written by Szczepan Twardoch with the theater in mind. The book edition features illustrations by Bartek Arobal Kociemba.

The description comes from the publisher’s website.