Northwestern Bait (Writings from an Unbound Europe)

David Albahari is one of the most prominent writers to emerge from the former Yugoslavia in the last twenty years. His serious, understated explorations of the self have influenced many writers of his native land's younger generation. The narrator of Bait has just exiled himself to Canada after the collapse of Yugoslavia and the death of his mother. As he listens to a series of audio tapes recorded by his mother years before, the narrator ponders her life and their relationship while simultaneously trying to come to terms with a new life of his own - one of exile and the confusion of a new language and culture. Bait is an exquisitely crafted novel that exhibits the wit and raw honesty Albahari's readers have long admired. Review Bait is perhaps the most unified and most balanced book Albahari has written till now, a book that, for its consistency and the demands it places before itself, announces to use the coming of age of a truly rare authoristic concept. -- Vreme Knjige The narrator tells his reader, again and again, that were he a writer . . . he could bring a better eye for metaphorical significance to the story. But Albahari's artful meditations on the meaning of otherness will convince many that he is indeed a writer. -- Booklist From the Back Cover David Albahari is one of the most prominent writers to emerge from the former Yugoslavia in the last twenty years. His serious, understated explorations of the self have influenced many writers of his native land's younger generation. The narrator of Bait has just exiled himself to Canada after the collapse of Yugoslavia and the death of his mother. As he listens to a series of audio tapes recorded by the mother years before, the narrator ponders her life and their relationship while simultaneously trying to come to terms with a new life of his own-one of exile and the confusion of a new language and culture. Bait is an exquisitely crafted novel that exhibits the wit and raw honesty Albahari's readers have long admired. About the Author David Albahari was born in 1948 in the Serbian village of Pec. He is the founder and was for many years the editor-in-chief of Pismo, a magazine of world literature. He is also an accomplished translator of Anglo-American literature. His previous novels include, Words are Something Else (Northwestern University Press, 1996) and Tsing (Northwestern University Press, 1997). Peter Agnone studied Serbian at the University of Pittsburg and has made numerous visits to the former Yugoslavia since 1991. A nuclear engineer by trade, he is an author as well as a translator of the works of Serbian political scientists.