Not that Milan Kundera is incomprehensible, it is just that there are so many twists and turns sometimes a little help is all we need. Misurella is good at noting the parabatic asides and is excellent at zeroing in on some of the key themes that Kundera explores. His read on "The Joke" is so comprehensive, it is almost a must to have this book with you like dictionary.

His reading of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" is really interesting. Taking the approach form a Oedipus angle, Misurella misses some of the subtle Nietzsche and Tolstoy angles that Kundera includes. "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" is full of references to "The Eternal Return" and "Anna Karenina" that it is impossible to miss - and Misurella misses this by placing the Oedipus read at the center.

If you read "Understanding Milan Kundera" along side Maria Nemcova Banerjee's "Terminal Paradoxes" and John O'Brian's "Milan Kundera & feminism : dangerous intersections" then you will get a greater appreciation for the complexity of Kundera's work.

If you use the book as a reader, then you will have taken advantage of the book already. However, Misurella does an ending with "The Art of the Novel" that brings Kundera's work together very nicely. It is impossible to even try to do a comprehensive piece of Kundera as the body of work is so huge and complex. Misurella does a wonderful job of taking such a complex subject and making is accessible for folks like me. I recommend it highly along with the other books above. I'm sure Kundera would agree.

Miguel Llora