Intimitavlkov

About a book

Jozef

Heriban

Intimacy of Wolves

Original title: Intimita vlkov

Genre: novel

Slovak edition: HERIAL

CONTENT

An erotic-psychological novel about the secret agent Michal Mayer, who is a tough pragmatist with extraordinary foresight, able to play all sides, even a spy, but when it comes to women, he is above all an esthete and a researcher of the mysterious worlds of eroticism, in which, as in music, one can to find not only asylum, but also a questioned meaning of life. It is a story of passionate love, a longing for affection, a disturbing feeling of loneliness, a story about secret services and media manipulations. But it is mainly an intimate report about the secret life of men.

REVIEWS

“Heriban's novel The Intimacy of Wolves became a bestseller immediately after its publication. Through a dynamic narrative full of bold erotic scenes and captivating emotionality, the novel not only delivers an intimate account of men's lives, but also reveals their disturbing sense of loneliness. It is somewhat a camouflage of the icons of the 20th century, somewhat an ironization of television series and media and advertising manipulation, but it is also a serious statement about the emotional deficits of a generation and the search for solutions for a person lost in the mazes of the postmodern world.”

Alexander Halvoník

“The author, also known as a director, screenwriter, and expert in advertising, in this case bet on bold erotic scenes, which is already indicated by the photo of Lubomír Špirka on the cover (perhaps it was a marketing move in a way), but he bet even more on the reader's willingness to play with dreams and imaginations. About the secret service, love and despair, music, and the media, and how one might enjoy the pleasures of the world if one were rich, beautiful, healthy and successful. But everything has its upside and downside, and everything is paid for in the literal and figurative sense of the word. The narrator of the story, Michal Mayer, is a secret agent who has everything and has nothing, loses his family, love, property, self-respect, and himself and ends up in a wheelchair. However, the whole story, in which space and time intertwine, is perhaps only a kind of fantasy game - an idea of what it would be like if... The intimacy of wolves is, after all, as the book emphasizes, a story about the hidden lives of men (but not only theirs) , about searching and losing, about the fear of existence and responsibility for it, and especially about the eternal human dream, the desire to take off from everyday life to the sun...And one more thing - at the end of the book, Michal presents long-discovered truths, for example: "The only thing left for us what remains is what we do for others. Everything else in our life is just borrowed. When we leave, we can't take anything with us. Those who know will give everything away...", or: "What we carry inside us always happens to us. What we have in mind. What will we come up with.", or: "If you want something very much, it can eventually come true. One should never give up.” Nothing new under the sun, yet those words resonate and inspire again and again…”

Elena Ťapajová, Knižná revue

EXTRACT

I’m a busy person. My aura is damaged. My father beat me every day. For no reason, because he was also beaten every day. I didn’t mind because I thought it was meant to be. I liked him. He was an unhappy man. His mom didn’t take care of him at all. She was full of much more important responsibilities than bringing up her little son.

My father was very charming. Very funny. Very talented. Everyone was having fun while he was talking. He had great acting talent. He liked to dress up. He went to masquerade balls and entertained his friends there. No one could talk as funny as he did. Everyone called to him: “Valér, come and join us!” “At least for a while. Come and drink a glass of wine with us!” Or they said: “Valér, next week there will be such a small celebration. You must come. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Promise us that you will come.”

I am an abused child and a wolf. Wolves are extremely sensitive. Some can also move in another dimension. In another time and space. In the space. They remember previous lives. They remember what happened and they remember what will happen. I sometimes remember that too. I like talking to people I met a long time ago and liked. Sometimes I miss them a lot. I miss their wisdom. I miss the conversations. I miss their touch. I miss their love. I miss them so much that you can’t imagine. If you know, then you understand me.

I’m a busy person. I have a damaged package. I have open wounds that won’t heal. Just when I think they’ve healed, someone strikes. Just like that, for no reason. Because we live in such a world. I am not complaining. This is how it should be.

All the silly sentences, the stylized speeches, and all the pretenses. Pretense destroys me. Sometimes I feel like I can’t take it anymore. I remember how my father stopped talking one day. He didn’t talk for years. He just watched. I will never forget his look. He sat at the table and was silent. He didn’t go anywhere. No one called out to him: “Valér, come sit with us.” My father sat at the table and was silent. He was silent for years. I understand him. He was just as pumped as I am.