"This collection of the earliest prose captures, "the moment when Hrabal discovered the magic of writing." (Arnault Maréchal). Taken from the period when Bohumil Hrabal shifted his focus from poetry to prose, these stories - many written in school notebooks, typed and read aloud to friends, or published in samizdat - often showcase experiments in style that would define his later works; others intriguingly utilize forms the author would never pursue again. 'Why I Write?' offers to see why the prose master was "fundamentally a lyrical poet." -- Josef Skvorecký
