Suggestions for further reading

All of the following books have provided me with differing but worthwhile viewpoints, as well as a good basic education, on Central Europe and the Balkans. Most are also fine examples of various kinds of Good Writing. So go to it.

Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History, by Robert D. Kaplan (Vintage Departures, 1994; ISBN #0-679-74981-0). Love him or hate him, Kaplan, a well-known author and magazine journalist, spins a compelling narrative as he schleps it from one tortured country to the next with Rebecca West and John Reed in his luggage (their books, that is). I found the section on Romania to be particularly vivid, but then, I would...

Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey, by Isabel Fonseca (Vintage Departures, 1996; ISBN #0-679-73743-X). Intrepid author traces the various journeys of the ultimate outsiders with ample helpings of pluck and intelligence. (How's that for a jacket blurb?)

Café Europa, by Slavenka Drakulic (UK pub. Abacus, 1996; ISBN #0-349- 10729-7. US pub. Penguin USA, ISBN #0140277722). Twenty-four short pieces plus an introduction, by one of my favorite journalists and essayists. Drakulic is an invaluable mediator between East and West because of her ability to tell Westerners, in their own language (and I don't mean simply English), things like what the West looks like to a former member of the Eastern Bloc -- in particular, a Croatian -- and, what's more, what the other ex-Bloc countries mean to her (for example, why Russia isn't high on her list of places to spend a vacation). And she doesn't omit opinions of her own compatriots, either. Engaged, funny, smart, revelatory, down-to-earth, and a great read. I also recommend Drakulic's earlier non-fiction collections, How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed and Balkan Express. (I haven't tackled her fiction.)

The History of Eastern Europe for Beginners, by Paul Beck, Edward Mast and Perry Tapper (Writers and Readers, 1997; ISBN #0-86316-237-1). One of many in the popular "For Beginners" series of educational texts in cartoon form. I'll recommend this with some reservations; the obvious left-leaning bias will infuriate or delight you, as the case may be, and other readers have noted glaring omissions, but if you want a basic, simplified "Eastern Europe for Dummies" you might consider this as a supplementary text to weightier treatments.

How To Learn Any Language: Quickly, Easily, Inexpensively, Enjoyably, and On Your Own, by Barry Farber (Citadel Press, 1991; ISBN #0806512717). I wish I'd come across this short book when it came out (or even before then). Farber, a New York radio talk show host and founder of the Language Club, claims to speak 25 languages and after reading this, I don't doubt him. He aims the book at Americans who want to give the 'monolingual American' stereotype a good shove, and supplies plenty of good practical advice for starting a self-study program in any language (I enjoyed the capsule 'language reviews' at the end, such as "Chinese is actually more of a life involvement than a language you choose to study"). I liked the book just as much for Farber's geeky enthusiasm and the rationale he gives for learning a foreign language or two. Even if you think you'll never be able to say much more than 'Hello' and 'Do you speak English?' in another language, if you're dissatisfied with your current linguistic limitations I recommend this one for the motivational value alone.

The Imagination of Terra Incognita: Slovenian Writing 1945-1995, edited by Ales Debeljak (White Pine Press, undated but circa 1997, ISBN #1- 877727-77-6). High-level collection of Slovene essays, poetry and short fiction; sometimes tough slogging, sometimes fun stuff, sometimes both, but all in all, an essential addition to the library of anyone with a serious interest in Slovenia and the former Yugoslavia. (Full disclosure: I have met Ales Debeljak and his family, been a guest in his home and have interviewed him for an article. That doesn't mean you shouldn't search out the book.) I can also recommend Debeljak's latest English-language poetry volume, The City and the Child (White Pine Press, 1999; ISBN #1877727997).

The Land of Green Plums, by Herta Müller, translated by Michael Hofmann (UK pub. Granta Books, 1996; ISBN #1-86207-227-2. US pub. Northwestern Univ. Press, ISBN #0810115972). Lit in the Granta tradition: a novel set in Ceausescu's Romania, written by a member of its ethnic German minority (most of whom, unsurprisingly, live in Germany these days, as does the author).

Letters to Olga, by Václav Havel (An Owl Book, Henry Holt and Company, 1989; ISBN #0-8050-0973-6, but out of print, I believe; try used bookstores). Havel's famed letters from prison, written between 1979 and 1982; often heavy going, but enjoyable for anyone who likes a good intellectual challenge and a few surprises.

Sarajevo Marlboro, by Miljenko Jergovic, translated by Stela Tomasevic (UK pub. Penguin Books, 1997; ISBN #0-14-026071-4). Slim collection of short stories written by a young (b. 1966) Bosnian journalist and poet, who fuses these writing disciplines to produce hip, unexpected fiction that gives Westerners no quarter. Highly recommended.

The publisher and ISBN numbers given are for US editions, except where noted. The publishing dates, publisher and ISBN numbers given are the ones on the copies I own; when these are British editions, the US ISBN is given afterwards when available. Some may be also out of print; finding out which is part of the fun. (Do you expect me to do absolutely everything for you?)