Utz

An elegant novel set in Prague about the possibility of freedom in an unfree state from the acclaimed author of The Songlines and In Patagonia. Utz collects Meissen porcelain with a passion. His collection which he has protected and enlarged through both World War II and Czechoslovakia's years of Stalinism numbers more than 1000 pieces all crammed into his two-room Prague flat.Utz is allowed to leave the country each year and although he has considered defection he always returns. He cannot take his precious collection with him but he cannot leave it either. And so Utz is as much owned by his porcelain as it is owned by him as much of a prisoner of the collection as of the Communist state.A fascinating enigmatic man Kaspar Utz is one of Bruce Chatwin's finest creations. And his story as delicately cast as one of Utz's porcelain figures is unforgettable.