He spent several months in the tropical rainforest on Siberut Island and underwent ritual tattooing by the Mentawai tribe. In the autumn of 2002, he exhibited Mentawaian artefacts and photographs at the National Museum in Prazev in the exhibition Siberut - The Eyes of Ghosts as part of the exhibition Mysterious Indonesia, which he co-organised with Jiří Hanzelka, Miroslav Zikmund, Rudolf Švaříček and Miroslav Stingl.
In June 2004, Formánek managed to write his second book, The Flying Jaguar, in 11 hours and 19 minutes in the window of the Neoluxor bookstore on Wenceslas Square in Prague in the presence of the public. The publisher published it in less than 12 hours and delivered it to bookstores from Ústí nad Labem to Ostrava. It became the fastest book written, printed and distributed in the world.
Formánek wrote his first work for a long time. When, after seven years of writing, his debut book, The Busty Man and the Story Thief, was published in November 2003, this novel about the devil and the miracles that can befall any of us drew a huge response from readers and critics alike. It sold 26,000 copies in one year and is now in its fifth edition.
Josef Formánek lives in Mala Tatimerze, the smallest village in the Bohemian Central Highlands. He has a daughter, Karolina. And his friend Dalibor Nesnídal, who illustrates his texts. In the autumn of 2004, Formánek decided to leave Koktejl magazine and devote himself solely to writing.
