This is the first English translation of his Diary, the most Polish and the most universal of Witold Gombrowicz's work. Gombrowicz (1904-1969), who left Poland at age thirty-five and never returned, whose writings were banned in his own country, has had an impact on Polish literature unlike any of his contemporaries. But he changed more than the image of Polish letters. If literature cannot influence national character, it can at least influence the national image, its understanding and evaluation of itself. That is what Gombrowicz changed: the image and stereotype of the Pole.

Translated by: Lillian Vallee