My Cat Yugoslavia: Pajtim Statovci - Softcover

Pajtim Statovci

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782273603 ISBN 13: 9781782273608

Publisher: Pushkin Press, 2018

Synopsis

'A strange, haunting, and utterly original exploration of displacement and desire' -- Téa Obreht, author of The Tiger's Wife, New York Times Book Review

'Fearless, delicate, beautiful, sad, haunting and wonderful. A brilliant novel that mesmerizes with both its humanity and its utter uniqueness' -- Jeff VanderMeer

In 1980s Yugoslavia, a young girl named Emine is married off to a man she hardly knows. But soon her country is torn apart by war, and she is forced to flee with her family.

Decades later Emine's son, Bekim, has grown up a social outcast in a country suspicious of foreigners. Aside from casual hook-ups, his only companion is a pet boa constrictor - until one night in a gay bar, Bekim meets a talking cat. It is this witty, charming, manipulative creature that starts him on a journey back to Kosovo to confront his demons and make sense of the remarkable, cruel history of his family. And soon he learns that love can be found in the most unexpected places.

About this title

Review:

'Striking... a memorably disconcerting novel, a kind of literary Let the Right One In' -- Observer

'Widely praised, very good passages, particularly when [Statovci] is writing about life in Kosovo... an extraordinary achievement' -- Sunday Times

' It's a surreal fable that makes tangible the dislocation felt by those who are persecuted in their home country and in the country that gives them refuge' -- Financial Times

' Fearless, delicate, beautiful, sad, haunting, and wonderful. A brilliant novel that mesmerizes with both its humanity and its utter uniqueness. A novel you'll be thinking about long after you've turned the last page' -- Jeff VanderMeer

' Beguiling, intelligent and tender... a masterclass in defining the soft spots which mark human vulnerability' --The Big Issue

'A strange, haunting, and utterly original exploration of displacement and desire . . . a marvel, a remarkable achievement, and a world apart from anything you are likely to read this year' -- The New York Times Book Review

' Strange and exquisite, the book is a meditation on exile, dislocation, and loneliness' -- New Yorker

' A wonderful and haunting novel about war, family, love - and a talking cat' -- Attitude

' Statovci offers the redemptive promise of love to leaven this stirring portrait of migration's multi-faceted loneliness' -- Spectator

' This dark debut has a daring, irrepressible spirit' -- The Atlantic

' [A] compelling and altogether beautiful debut novel... Inventive and playful... At a time when there is a shortage of empathy for refugees both here and in Europe, Statovci's queer perspective on the search of rootedness in My Cat Yugoslavia is wonderful and original - and much welcome, too' -- Slate

' Spry and warm . . . Statovci's surreal, arresting novel suggests that ... love and identity have many reflections, many destinies, many languages. Sometimes, a broken mirror reflects something truer-as does the kind of love, drawn from the deepest sunken places, that tries to put it back together' -- New Yorker

' An elegant, allegorical portrait of lives lived at the margin, minorities within minorities in a new land... [My Cat Yugoslavia] a fine debut, layered with meaning and shades of sorrow' -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

'A startlingly original tale... This novel's singular ingredients combine to make a strange but thoroughly intoxicating brew' -- The National

' Compelling . . . [an] important exploration of the aftershocks of war' -- Publishers Weekly

' Powerful. . . . Dramatic. . . . Statovci is a tremendous talent. This debut novel - a deserved winner of the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize for Best First Novel in 2014 - has an intensity and power that demands a second reading' --Library Journal (starred review)

'The power to enlighten... poignant and eye-opening' -- CUB Magazine

'[A] remarkable book' --The Bay Area Reporter

About the Author:

Pajtim Statovci (b. 1990) moved from Kosovo to Finland with his family when he was two years old, and holds an MA in comparative literature from the University of Helsinki. First published in Finland in 2014, his first novel, My Cat Yugoslavia won the prestigious Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize. His second novel, published in Finland as Tiranan Sydän, received the Toisinkoinen Literature Prize, and is forthcoming from Pushkin Press.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pushkin Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1782273603
• ISBN 13: 9781782273608
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272