P IS FOR POLAND

I am 31 but I hate grownups. Not in the “refuse responsibility, be a Peter Pan” kind of way, but in the “all evil stems from excessive seriousness” kind of way. This book was written in the year when the two worst grown ups of 20th century were rampant: Stalin was purging and Hitler was getting close to it. And this ode to immaturity is the counterpoint to atrocities: brilliant, uproariously funny and utterly convincing. I wish more contemporary Polish politicians read it.

Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz
Translated by Danuta Borchardt
Published by Yale University Press in 2000