The Bass Saxophone by Josef Škvorecký

A whole generation of beatnik writers took inspiration from jazz, and strived to find a style of prose that matched the music’s vitality and flow. Josef Škvorecký was part of that same generation. Born in 1924, he was two years older than Jack Kerouac, and two years younger than Allen Ginsberg.

But there was one big difference. Škvorecký came of age in t…