Café Europa: Life After Communism

"Slavenka Drakulic is a journalist and writer whose voice belongs to the world." --Gloria Steinem

Today in Eastern Europe the architectural work of revolution is complete: the old order has been replaced by various forms of free market economy and de jure democracy. But as Slavenka Drakulic observes, "in everyday life, the revolution consists much more of the small things--of sounds, looks and images." In this brilliant work of political reportage, filtered through her own experience, we see that Europe remains a divided continent. In the place of the fallen Berlin Wall there is a chasm between East and West, consisting of the different way people continue to live and understand the world. Little bits--or intimations--of the West are gradually making their way east: boutiques carrying Levis and tiny food shops called "Supermarket" are multiplying on main boulevards. Despite the fact that Drakulic can find a Cafe Europa, complete with Viennese-style coffee and Western decor, in just about every Eastern European city, the acceptance of the East by the rest of Europe continues to prove much more elusive.

Author: Slavenka Drakulic
Publisher: Penguin Books
Published: 02/01/1999
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.41lbs
Size: 7.88h x 5.06w x 0.56d
ISBN: 9780140277722

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 04/11/1999 pg. 40

About the Author
Slavenka Drakulic was born in Croatia in 1949. The author of several works of nonfiction and novels, she has written for The New York Times, The Nation, The New Republic, and numerous publications around the world.