Archibald Václav Novák: Hříšná exotika
ISBN: 978-80-7036-654-7
Author(s): Jan Šejbl
Publisher: National Museum
Type of publication: monograph
Place of publication: Prague
Number of pages: 240 + 2 × 32 pages of color photo attachments
Citation: ŠEJBL, Jan. Archibald Václav Novák: Hříšná exotika. Vydání první. Prague: National Museum, 2020. 240 + 2 × 32 pages of color photo attachments stran. ISBN 978-80-7036-654-7.
This book examines the life and work of the traveller, writer and publisher Archibald Václav Novák (1895–1979). He rose to fame in the 1920s and 1930s as the author of popular novels and short stories set against exotic backdrops, as well as a publisher and travel lecturer. The experience he had gained from visiting the US and French Polynesia and travel to Asia proved a rich source of inspiration for his travel lectures and writing. It was his novels and short stories set in Tahiti that particularly curried interest among readers, though not without courting controversy. The book has three main parts. The first centres on Novák’s life and travels. The second part addresses Novák’s literary work and discusses the contents of all of his books. The third part is devoted to Novák’s photographic and film work and the characteristics of what has been preserved of his photographic legacy.