Ordination

Nice guys always have it harder… Patrik is thirty-five, works as a general practitioner in a small town and when he looks in the mirror, the first thing that comes to mind is Shrek. In his surgery, he is assisted by the attractive but unapproachable Marika, with a mouth fouler than a sailor's, and for the last three years, his own mother has been "filling in" as a nurse. She takes it hard that the son of a prominent Brno internist has buried himself in his hometown as a GP. For him, however, helping ordinary people is a passion matched only by a tasty dinner with his beloved Hanka in front of the TV, where Real Madrid are cruising towards another victory. But now he's trying to cut back on food, his relationship is on the rocks, and fortune is even turning away from his favourite football team. Fortunately, his best friends Miki and Dasty are there for him. He's known them since secondary school and can always count on them for understanding – and something good to eat. Will this ogre with a big heart get his happy ending? In her first feel-good novel, the successful Czech author shows the world through the eyes of a doctor in a surgery, a world she knows intimately from her own practice as a nurse (which she already put to good use when writing The Surgeon). Her kind-hearted storytelling is guaranteed to boost your optimism for life! “I wanted the reader to experience, through the book, a doctor who likes people, who has understanding for them, and at the same time experiences the unpleasantness that every general practitioner experiences.” – Petra Dvořáková, author “It’s a pleasant, funny summer read, ideal for a holiday. Very well written and highly readable.” – from reader reviews on Databazeknih.cz “It’s a novel that wants to be almost programmatically cheerful, entertaining. It works with comedy, especially situational comedy. At times, it also helps itself with specific language, influenced by dialectal expressions and phrases. At times it recalls the sitcom writing of Evžen Boček with the 'aristocrat' as the main character, and at other times Michal Viewegh in his better days, for example in the titles Biomanžel or Biomanželka.” – iDnes.cz As soon as I run into the surgery, my mum catches me at the door. “You’ve got your flu jab here. I don’t recommend it, but since you want it, you’ll get it,” she declares, standing with the vaccine drawn like a soldier before an attack. The thought of the pleasure with which she'll jab the needle into me and then, with narrowed eyes, inject the colourless liquid into my body, turns my stomach. “In the end, I might reconsider my position on vaccination, now that I’m starting to date again. One can catch all sorts of things during intimate contact,” Mum remarks. “Oh for crying out loud, Mum…” I groan. You really don't want to hear that. “Just stick it in me already!” I beg, as if pleading for a final bullet. – excerpt from the book