Nobody’s Home

About the Book

A whole world seems to orbit within Nobody’s Home, a world that looks familiar yet strange. Ugresic constantly surprises with her acerbically funny observations, whether comparing the idolatry of saints and celebrities, or the modernization of Eastern Europe with Western Europe’s increasing Sovietization.

Happiness, nostalgia, gardening, slavery, communism, time and space – these are just some of the topics touched upon on these momentous travels.

 

About the Author

Dubravka Ugresic was one of Europe’s most distinctive novelists and essayists. Her writing has been compared to that of Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Brodsky, Milan Kundera and Virginia Woolf, and has been translated into more than thirty languages. When war broke out in the former Yugoslavia in 1991, Ugresic took a firm anti-war stance, becoming a target for nationalist journalists, politicians and writers, which led her to leave Croatia in 1993. Ugresic was the winner of several major literary prizes, including the Austrian State Prize for European Literature 1998; Jean Améry Essay Prize 2012 and the 2016 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. She lived in Amsterdam.

About the Translator

Ellen Elias-Bursac has been translating novels and non-fiction by Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian writers for the last twenty years. Her translation of David Albahari's novel Gotz and Meyer was awarded the National Translation Award by the American Literary Translators Association in 2006. She has co-authored a textbook for the study of Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian with Ronelle Alexander, and has written a study on poet Tin Ujević and his work as a literary translator.

Reviews

'Sharp and funny ... Under her gaze the tiredest topics of the “tired” continent (migration, multiculturalism, “new Europe”) spring to life. Ellen Elias-Bursac's translation captures all her irony and mischief.'
Boyd Tonkin

'One of the ten greatest writers you've never heard of.'
Guardian

'Unflinching and provocative.'
The Times

‘Ugresic builds her palace of art out of the bloodsoaked debris of politics.’
Independent

‘A unique tone of voice, a madcap wit and a lively sense of the absurd ... Ingenious.’
Marina Warner

‘A writer to follow, a writer to be cherished.’
Susan Sontag

‘Ugresic is sharp, funny and unafraid ... Orwell would approve.’
Times Literary Supplement

‘Ugresic writes with a sharpened pen. Her voice is unique, her writing elegant and dangerous ... irresistible.’
Scotland on Sunday

‘Savage, quotable and perceptive.’
The Observer

'Thought-provoking... and certainly well worth your while. Recommended for anyone concerned with contemporary culture, as well as the consequences, on all levels, of globalisation.'
Complete Review