Set in Prague, The Maimed relates the story of a highly neurotic, socially inept bank clerk who is eventually forced to have sexual relations with his widowed landlady. At the same time he must witness the steady physical and mental deterioration of his lifelong friend who is suffering from an unnamed disease. Part psychological farce, Ungar tells a dark, ironic tale of chaos overtaking one¹s meticulously ordered life. Having died young, Ungar wrote only two novels, in addition to a handful of plays and short stories; this is the first time his work has appeared in English.About the Author:Hermann Ungar (1893-1929) was born to a prominent Jewish family in Boskovice, Moravia and studied at university in Berlin and Prague, where he later lived. He was wounded is the First World War and was awarded the Silver Medal of Valor. In 1920, after a stint as a dramaturge and actor at the Municipal Theatre in Cheb, he entered the Czechoslovak foreign service, becoming trade attaché at the Czechoslovak embassy in Berlin. His first book, a volume of short stories that was highly praised by Thomas Mann, was published the same year. Called back to Prague in 1928, Ungar resigned from the service in 1929, several weeks before his death of acute appendicitis. His literary output includes plays, short stories, and two novels.