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NEW BOOK - After the Rain - How the West Lost the East
8/24/2007 5:54:00 AM
by Sam Vaknin
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How the West lost the East. The economics, the politics, the geopolitics, the history, the conspiracies, the corruption, the old and the new, the plough and the internet—it is all here, in prose, as provocative and vitriolic and loving and longing as I could make it.
Reading this book, I wish upon the reader the joy and the revulsion, the dark fascination of this region and its surrealist dreams and nightmares. This is what I experience daily here and it is my hope that I succeeded to convey the siren's song, the honeyed trap, the lure and the allure of this tortured corner of the earth. |
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PRESS RELEASE
For Further Details / Interview/ Review Copy Contact "Narcissus Publications": By Email: palma.unet.com.mkPhone (in Macedonia): (38970) 565-488
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE FREE E-BOOK
View the Entire Book here:
Brendan Howley in "The Blue Ear" says:
After the Rain is that rarest of reading experiences: principled and thoughtful and irritating and prescient, all at once. Vaknin will be proved right or wrong as history grinds on in the Balkans, but his is a book I will return to.
If you live in Central, Eastern, or South Europe
If you are a Political Scientist, a Columnist, a Decision-maker
If you want to know the Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth
about Events, Personalities, Institutions,
the Politics, the Geopolitics, the Money, the Power, the Crime
If you want to understand Why the West Lost the East
- Read ....
Dr. Sam Vaknin's new book "After the Rain - How the West Lost the East" published by Narcissus Publications in association with Central Europe Review/CEENMI is available from the American chain of bookshops Barnes and Noble.
The author (an Israeli who held and holds senior positions with governments and corporations in the region) says:
"How the West lost the East. The economics, the politics, the geopolitics, the history, the conspiracies, the corruption, the old and the new, the plough and the internet—it is all here, in prose, as provocative and vitriolic and loving and longing as I could make it.
Reading this book, I wish upon the reader the joy and the revulsion, the dark fascination of this region and its surrealist dreams and nightmares. This is what I experience daily here and it is my hope that I succeeded to convey the siren's song, the honeyed trap, the lure and the allure of this tortured corner of the earth."
Read Readers' Reviews HERE:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ISBN=802385173X
With a foreword written by Emilija Geleva, a Macedonian journalist and columnist (currently, the Media Advisor to the Prime Minister of Macedonia) - the book contains 51 essays published in newspapers and periodicals in Russia, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Egypt and in the web weekly "Central Europe Review".
The first part of "After the Rain" is a social, political and geopolitical critique. The author's main thesis is that the West missed a unique historical opportunity to unite Europe and that the peoples of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe are beyond salvation, deformed and pathologized by communism irreconstructibly.
The second part comprises articles about the economies of the region.
Quite a few articles deal with the history of the region with emphasis on Yugoslavia, Albania and the disputed regions in-between (Kosovo).
This is the third part.
THE AUTHOR
Click HERE to read what The Reviewer has to say about "After the Rain" -
John Harris on "After the Rain" in "Blue Iris Journal":
Peter Lappen on "After the Rain" in "Bookreview.com", "Dead Trees Review", "Under the Covers Book Review", "Footle.net Book Review" and "Blether Book Review":
Number of Reviews: 4 Average Rating: 5 Stars
Jovan Jovanovski (jovan.brandassociates.com), a management consultant in Detroit., February 23, 2000
You don't say, Dr. Vaknin!
Dr. Vaknin's work is nothing less than a revolutionary way of looking at, and understanding, developments in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. If your eyes glaze over from the usual treatment of ethnic strife, economies in transition, and democratization in eastern Europe, Sam Vaknin's book is for you. Unlike most writers on the topic, he has the advantage of having lived in the region for many years and worked inside various governments. More importantly, he refuses to bow to political correctness -- a unique attribute for a western analyst covering the Balkans. There is not a chapter of this book that fails to enlighten, surprise, amuse or infuriate. These are natural reactions to Dr. Vaknin's keen powers of observation, his insight, and his vivid, take-no-prisoners writing style. I have never had so much fun reading about a topic that is often inherently depressing. You may agree or disagree with Dr. Vaknin's views, but you won't be able to put away his book until you've read it cover to cover.
GS, a businessman working in Yugoslavia, February 22, 2000
The Primal Scream
I have been living and working in the Balkans during the last decade. I know the area and its inhabitants well. The last year saw the eruption of a literary force of rare magnitude - Sam Vaknin. I followed his articles in 'The New Presence' and 'Central Europe Review'. They astounding feats of verbal fireworks, fine arabesques intertwined with volcanic lava - a MUST READ!!! With the exception of Rebecca West, I never read anything which comes remotely close to this either in forcefulness of expression or in acuteness of penetration. The book oozes pain and erudition in equal measures and left me shocked and overwhelmed.
Gaye Dalton, February 22, 2000
How to define it?
Political and economic commentary? Philosophy? Is there such a category as literary impressionism? This book is as much the lyrical wanderings of a brilliant mind set against the rich backdrop of the Balkans... The literary Bar Mitsva of a man with a remarkable gift for observation, insight and the words with which to share those things. There are two ways to experience the Balkans, stay there for a year, or read 'After the rain'. One of the disadvantages of the first option is that you may miss much that way. This a truly wonderful book, I am cheating, thus far I have only seen it piecemeal, I still wait for the whole. But already though formerly an unrelenting critic of Sam Vaknin's earlier work I find myself at last caught on the road to Damascus....a convert for life. I find I am asking myself already.... Where will he take us? What will he show us? Next.......
ADDITIONAL DATA
"After the Rain - How the West Lost the East" (ISBN: 802385173X).
The book is available through Barnes and Noble here:
The Barnes and Noble site contains readers' reviews and a lot of related material.
Scroll down for further information or visit these addresses on the web:
On the author:
Paperback, 280 pages, 2 parts: "The People" and "The Economies".
Related Links
An anthology of 180 previously published articles and essays regarding the politics, economics, geopolitics and history of countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkan.
The author archive of Sam Vaknin's column "Balkan Encounter" in "Central Europe Review". Contains articles and essays regarding the politics, economics, geopolitics and history of countries in CEE and SEE (Balkan).
Archive of articles published by United Press International - Click HERE.
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