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2012 Longlist

Kaya, Belgrade and the Good American

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ABOUT
THE BOOK

The novel Kaya, Belgrade and the Good American by Mirjana Đurđević is a vivid picture of a period, ennobled by robust story-telling. The story-teller, who occupies an ambivalent position – one moment an omniscient observer, the next moment an unnamed character in the story – talks ironically and humorously about a carefree world which is not aware of the oncoming cataclysm that will be caused by the outbreak of Nazism in Germany. The novel conjures up the atmosphere of Belgrade before World War II, and the story centers mostly around the small Kalmyk population which settled there together with the Russians who fled in the face of the October Revolution. At its core, there is an auto-ironic portrait of a not-so-popular authoress, who compensates for her want of productivity with a fashionable life in the Yugoslav capital, participating in local scandals and running her own small detective investigation.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Mirjana
Đurđević

Mirjana Đurđević (Belgrade, 1956), is a teacher at the Engineering-Geodetics Trade School, and a writer. She has published several books in her profession. For her novel Kaya, Belgrade and the Good American she received the prestigious Meša Selimović Award for the best book in the region in 2010.

Mirjana Đurđević (Belgrade, 1956), is a teacher at the Engineering-Geodetics Trade School, and a writer. She has published several books in her profession. For her novel Kaya, Belgrade and the Good American she received the prestigious Meša Selimović Award for the best book in the region in 2010.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Alice
Copple-Tosic

Alice Copple-Tosić (1948) was born and raised in San Jose, California, and moved to Belgrade, Serbia (former Yugoslavia) in 1975. She has a master’s in French and has been translating from Serbo-Croatian into English since 1978. She taught English language and translation for fifteen years at the University of Belgrade and is currently a translation reviser at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands.

Alice Copple-Tosić (1948) was born and raised in San Jose, California, and moved to Belgrade, Serbia (former Yugoslavia) in 1975. She has a master’s in French and has been translating from Serbo-Croatian into English since 1978. She taught English language and translation for fifteen years at the University of Belgrade and is currently a translation reviser at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands.

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

The story-teller talks ironically and humorously about a carefree world which is not aware of the oncoming cataclysm the will be caused by the outbreak of Nazism in Germany. The novel conjures up the atmosphere of Belgrade before World War 2. For her novel Kaya, Belgrade and the Good American she received the prestigious Meša Selimović Award for the best book in the region in 2010. A vivid picture of life in the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The story-teller talks ironically and humorously about a carefree world which is not aware of the oncoming cataclysm that will be caused by the outbreak of Nazism in Germany. The story centres mostly around the small Kalmyk population which settled there, together with the Russians who fled in the face of the October Revolution. At its core, there is an auto-ironic portrait of a not-so -popular authoress, who compensates for her want of productivity with a fashionable life, participating in local scandals and running her own small detective investigation. The author received the Meša Selimović Award.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
Serbia
Original Language
Serbian
Publisher
Geopoetika
Translator
Alice Copple-Tosic

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