About the book: 2022 / Finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Prize. Nomination for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. A new one flies through the solar system comet. After it, a cloud of gas and cosmic dust, brought from Deep Space, remains in the orbit of Venus. This is a source of invaluable information for earthly scientists. Czech astrophysicist professor Jakub Prochazka, a child of the Velvet Revolution, the son of an employee of the State Security Service, is sent into space to study the cloud. The incredible awaits him - the first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. Trials and traumatic memories mix under the brilliance of the stars. The mission is on the brink of disaster. Man and alien prepare to meet their fate. "Reads like Arthur C. Clarke's A Space Odyssey crossed with a Milan Kundera novel set in the Philip K. Dick universe, with references to Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis." – Library Journal “Mix Bradbury and Lem with Saint-Exupery, and maybe a little Kafka, and you get a novel by Czech immigrant writer Kalfarge. A book built on the sly humor of opposites. Bringing together subtle aspects of Czech history, the Cold War and today's shaky democracy, Kalfarge's Confectionery is an inventive, well-crafted exercise in fantasy. An entertaining, provocative addition to novels set in the near future." – Kirkus Reviews