Age of Skin

These essays are written on the skin of the times. Dubravka Ugresic, winner of the Neustadt International Prize and one of Europe`s most influential writers, with biting humor and a multitude of cultural references--from La La Land and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, to tattoos and body modification, World Cup chants, and the preservation of Lenin`s corpse--takes on the dreams, hopes, and fears of modern life. The collapse of Yugoslavia, and the author`s subsequent exile from Croatia, leads to reflections on nationalism and the intertwining of crime and politics. Ugresic writes at eye level, from a human perspective, in portraits of people from the former Eastern Bloc, who work as cleaners in the Netherlands or start underground shops with products from their country of origin. A rare and welcome combination of irony, compassion, and a sharp polemic gaze characterizes these beautiful and highly relevant essays.