Praise for Hristo Karastoyanov

“On the surface, this is a far away story in a far away time, but Karastoyanov masterfully brings his reader in close, immersing each of us in the action, anarchy, and art of a fierce political resistance.”

—DW Gibson

“A poet and an anarchist in the same year, 1925, both their last. The men’s voices and narratives breathlessly intersect, take hold of one another, then mix into the blood and terror of Bulgaria’s undeclared civil war, which would vanish them without a trace. A poignant novel, at once tense and fractured, brutal and lyrical. Powerful voices that haunt you long after the ending.”

—Georgi Gospodinov

“Karastoyanov never lets us forget that this story, like every history, is a could-have-been narrative refracted through the prism of the present moment. . . . Izidora Angel’s translation skillfully captures the author’s (and the characters’) sardonic commentary, while still conveying Karastoyanov’s deep connection to and concern with events that even now continue to shape Bulgarians’ conception of their own history.”

—Angela Rodel

“A writer of true European spirit.”

—Berliner Zeitung