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American Fictionary

This book was first published as "Have a Nice Day: From the Balkan War to the American Dream" (trans. Celia Hawkesworth. London : Jonathan Cape, 1994). American Fictionary is a new revised edition, with all changes made by the author.

In the midst of the Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s, Dubravka Ugresic was invited to Middletown, Connecticut, as a guest lecturer. A world away from the brutal sieges of Sarajevo and the nationalist rhetoric of Milosevic, she instead had to cope with everyday life in America, where she's assaulted by "strong personalities," the cult of the body, endless amounts of jogging and exercise, bagels, and an obsession with public confession.

Organized as a fictional dictionary, these early essays of Ugresic's (revised and amended for this edition) are as pertinent to today's America as when they were first published. It's here, in these pieces filled with Ugresic's unparalleled wit and devastating observations, that the comforting veil of Western consumerism is ripped apart as the mundane luxuries of the average citizen are contrasted with the life of a woman whose country is being destroyed.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 209
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781940953847
  • Genres
  • essays, war
  • Release date
  • 2018