Pink tanks and velvet hangovers

by Douglas Lytle

Less than six months after the fall of the repressive Socialist government in Czechoslovakia, journalist Douglas Lytle quit his job as an entertainment reporter in San Francisco and accompanied his Czech girlfriend home for a visit. Intending to work and experience the country, Lytle first taught English at a public elementary school, then wrote for a Czech rock 'n roll magazine, and soon joined the staff of the fledgling Prague Post, a successful English language weekly. From these vantage points, Lytle watched an entire nation shrug off its ruined economy and take the first shaky steps to democracy and capitalism. He describes the "hangover" period right after the revolution and complicated shifting allegiances in economics and politics, including the 1992 division into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He details the motives of Americans and Europeans flocking to Prague, some intent on exploitation and some wanting to participate in an emerging democracy. Lytle writes perceptively ab