There's no writer quite like Mariusz Szczygiel

I’ve been a fan of Mariusz Szczygiel, the Polish author, investigative journalist and TV presenter, since reading his book Gottland: Mostly True Stories from Half of Czechoslovakia some ten years ago. Gottland – a series of 20th century Czech histories without the boring bits – was a knockout, winning the 2009 European Book Prize and giving an unexpected jolt to those who expected the usual stodgy travelogue on Central Europe. Victor Sebestyen described it in these pages as ‘one of the funniest books I have read – and one of the shrewdest.’

If all this sounds sombre, it’s anything but. Not There, translated once again by Lloyd-Jones, is full of weird variety and bounce

Gottland ’s tales were ruthlessly well chosen. Szczygiel told us of the ups and downs of the Bata shoe factory;