Miss Ex-Yugoslavia

Author: Sofija Stefanovic
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501165763
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
A “funny and tragic and beautiful in all the right places” (Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times bestseller author of Furiously Happy) memoir about the immigrant experience and life as a perpetual fish-out-of-water, from the acclaimed Serbian-Australian storyteller. Sofija Stefanovic makes the first of many awkward entrances in 1982, when she is born in socialist Yugoslavia. The circumstances of her birth (a blackout, gasoline shortages, bickering parents) don’t exactly get her off to a running start. While around her, ethnic tensions are stoked by totalitarian leaders with violent agendas, Stefanovic’s early life is filled with Yugo rock, inadvisable crushes, and the quirky ups and downs of life in a socialist state. As the political situation grows more dire, the Stefanovics travel back and forth between faraway, peaceful Australia, where they can’t seem to fit in, and their turbulent homeland, which they can’t seem to shake. Meanwhile, Yugoslavia collapses into the bloodiest European conflict in recent history. Featuring warlords and beauty queens, tiger cubs and Baby-Sitters Clubs, Sofija Stefanovic’s memoir is a window to a complicated culture that she both cherishes and resents. Revealing war and immigration from the crucial viewpoint of women and children, Stefanovic chronicles her own coming-of-age, both as a woman and as an artist. Refreshingly candid, poignant, and illuminating, “Stefanovic’s story is as unique and wacky as it is important” (Esquire).

Miss Ex-Yugoslavia

Author: Sofija Stefanovic
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
ISBN: 1760143626
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Book Description
Sofija Stefanovic was born into a country destined to collapse. With Yugoslavia on the brink of war, her family was torn between the socialist existence they’d always known and the pull of stability on offer in the distant land of Australia. Surrounded by conflict and uncertainty, it’s no wonder that Sofija had so many questions as she grew up: which Disney movie would her life mirror? How did Yugo rock songs compare with the Tin Lids? And can you become the centre of attention when English is your second language? Sofija’s family spent her childhood moving back and forth between Australia and Yugoslavia, unable to settle in one home. The war that had been brewing started to rage, and the pain and madness it caused stretched all the way to Melbourne, where Sofija found herself part of a strange community of ex-Yugoslavians. Then, as the Yugoslav Wars moved towards their brutal conclusion, her family faced their own private and desperate battle. Suddenly the world was turned upside-down all over again. By turns moving, hilarious and beautifully candid, Miss Ex-Yugoslavia captures the experience of being a perpetual outsider – and learning, in the end, that perhaps you prefer it that way. It is a story about not quite connecting with your old country, while not quite being embraced by your new one. Featuring war lords and their pet tigers, baby-sitters clubs and immigrant beauty queens, this extraordinary memoir announces a bright and compelling new Australian voice. ‘Sofija has created a hilarious and deeply moving memoir about a place that no longer exists on a map, by rendering its people in their full technicolour glory.’ Alice Pung ‘Sofija can’t even wait to pop out of her mum to begin her funny and tender storytelling. We are lucky such a nosy character has spent her life ruminating over family, love and war.’ John Safran ‘This is a story we yearn to know: how does a girl lose her childhood, family and nation, yet nurture her memories, dreams and art? Stefanovic hits all her marks, and she keeps us in her thrall.’ Min Jin Lee, author of Pachinko, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist ‘Funny and tragic and beautiful in all the right places. I loved it.’ Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy

Miss Ex-Yugoslavia

Author: Sofija Stefanovic
Publisher: Atria Books
ISBN: 1501165755
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Alien Nation

Author: Sofija Stefanovic
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063062062
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
A collection of 36 extraordinary stories originally told on stage, featuring work by writers, entertainers, thinkers, and community leaders. Spanning comedy and tragedy, Alien Nation brilliantly illuminates what it’s like to be an immigrant in America. America would not be America without its immigrants. This anthology, adapted from storytelling event “This Alien Nation,” captures firsthand the past and present of immigration in all its humor, pain, and weirdness. Contributors—some well-known, others regular (and fascinating) people—share moments from their lives, reminding us that immigration is not just a word dropped in the news (simplified to something you are “for” or “against”), but a world—rich with unique voices, perspectives, and experiences. Travel from the Central Park playground where “tattle-tales” among nannies inspire Christine Lewis’s activism to an Alexandrian garden half a century ago courtesy of writer André Aciman. Visit a refugee camp in Gaza as described by actress and comedian Maysoon Zayid, and follow Intersex activist Tatenda Ngwaru as she flees Zimbabwe with dreams of meeting Oprah. Witness efforts from comedian Aparna Nancherla's mother to make Aparna less shy, and Orange is the New Black's Laura Gómez makes an unlikely connection in a bed-and-breakfast. Compelling and inspirational, Alien Nation is a celebration of immigration and an exploration of culture shock, isolation and community, loneliness and hope, heartbreak and promise—it’s a poignant reminder of our shared humanity at a time we need it greatly, and a thoughtful, entertaining tribute to cultural diversity.

101 Things to Do Before You Grow Up

Author: Hinkler Books Pty, Limited
Publisher: Hinkler Book Distributors
ISBN: 9781741826760
Category : Amusements
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Book Description
Discover a world of new and not so new things to learn and do. With all sorts of practical and interesting activities ranging from making a scooter and learning to juggle to building an electromagnet and extracting DNA in your own kitchen, there's never an excuse to be bored.

We Trade Our Night for Someone Else's Day

Author: Ivana Bodrozic
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
ISBN: 1644210495
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 159

Book Description
A thriller of the ex-Yugoslavia Wars. "Bodrozic, mediated by Ellen Elias-Bursac’s assured translation, chronicles what a country chooses to remember, and what it consciously forgets, with confidence and grace." —Sarah Weinman, New York Times Book Review The city of Vukovar, situated on Croatia's easternmost periphery, across the Danube River from Serbia, was the site of some of the worst violence in the wars that rocked ex-Yugoslavia in the early '90s. It is referred to only as "the city" throughout this taut political thriller from one of Europe's most celebrated young writers. In this city without a name, fences in schoolyards separate the children of Serbs from those of Croats, and city leaders still fight to free themselves from violent crimes they committed--or permitted--during the war a generation ago. Now, it is left to a new generation--the children, now grown up, to extricate themselves from this tragic place, innocents who are nonetheless connected in different ways to the crimes of the past. Nora is a journalist assigned to do a puff piece on the perpetrator of a crime of passion--a Croatian high school teacher who fell in love with one of her students, a Serb, and is now in prison for having murdered her husband. But Nora herself is the daughter of a man who was murdered years earlier under mysterious circumstances. And she wants, if not to avenge her father, at least to bring to justice whoever committed the crime. There's a hothouse intensity to this extraordinary noir page-turner because of how closely the author sets the novel within the historical record. This city is unnamed, the story is fictional, so it can show us what actually happened there.

What We Find

Author: Robyn Carr
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 0778318850
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Book Description
Look for Robyn's new book, The Best of Us, a story about family, second chances and choosing to live your best life--order your copy today Join Robyn Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Virgin River and Thunder Point series, as she explores the healing powers of rural Colorado in a brand-new story of fresh starts, budding relationships and one woman's journey to finding the happiness she's long been missing Between the urban bustle of Denver and the high-stress environment of a career in neurosurgery, Maggie Sullivan has hit a wall. When an emergency high-risk procedure results in the death of a teenager, Maggie finds herself in the middle of a lawsuit--and experiencing levels of anxiety she's never faced before. She knows she needs to slow down before she burns out completely, and the best place she can think to do that is Sullivan's Crossing. Named for Maggie's great-grandfather, the land and charming general store at the crossroads of the Colorado and the Continental Divide Trails have been passed down through the generations and now belong to Maggie's eccentric father, Sully. When she shows up unannounced, he welcomes her with open arms, and she relishes the opportunity to indulge in his simple way of life. But shortly after arriving, Maggie's world is rocked once again and she must take on more responsibility than she'd planned. Though she's relieved a quiet and serious-looking hiker, Cal Jones, is willing to lend a hand, Maggie is suspicious of this mysterious man's eagerness to help--until she finds out the true reason for his deliberate isolation. Though Cal and Maggie each struggle with loss and loneliness, the time they spend together gives Maggie hope for something brighter just on the horizon...if only they can learn to find peace and healing--and perhaps love--with each other.

Overbooked

Author: Elizabeth Becker
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439161003
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 464

Book Description
"Travel is no longer a past-time but a colossal industry, arguably one of the biggest in the world and second only to oil in importance for many poor countries. One out of 12 people in the world are employed by the tourism industry which contributes $6.5 trillion to the world's economy. To investigate the size and effect of this new industry, Elizabeth Becker traveled the globe. She speaks to the Minister of Tourism of Zambia who thinks licensing foreigners to kill wild animals is a good way to make money and then to a Zambian travel guide who takes her to see the rare endangered sable antelope. She travels to Venice where community groups are fighting to stop the tourism industry from pushing them out of their homes, to France where officials have made tourism their number one industry to save their cultural heritage; and on cruises speaking to waiters who earn $60 a month--then on to Miami to interview their CEO. Becker's sharp depiction reveals travel as a product; nations as stewards. Seeing the tourism industry from the inside out, the world offers a dizzying range of travel options but very few quiet getaways"--

Impossible Country

Author: Brian Hall
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1446467341
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Book Description
'Here is art which conceals art, and intellect which conceals intellect, so that by the end of the book one feels that one understands something one had not understood before. Mr Hall is witty and amusing, but not snide; he has a lightness of touch which allows him to write of extremely serious matters without solemnity; he knows how to convey a great deal in a few words' Sunday Telegraph 'He is an observant and witty writer...you believe implicitly that he has met the people he writes about, and that they said what he quotes them as saying' Sunday Times

The Menzies Era

Author: John Howard
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 1743097972
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 540

Book Description
An assessment of Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, by John Howard, Australia's second-longest serving Prime Minister, this is a significant, unique and fascinating history of the Menzies era - a time that laid the foundations for modern Australia. 'Engaging and revealing ... like a torchlight shone from an unexpected angle' Geoffrey Blainey, Weekend Australian Fresh from the success of his phenomenal bestselling memoir, LAZARUS RISING, which has sold over 100,000 copies, John Howard now turns his attention to one of the most extraordinary periods in Australian history, the Menzies era, canvassing the longest unbroken period of government for one side of politics in Australia's history. The monumental Sir Robert Menzies held power for a total of over 18 years, making him the longest-serving Australian Prime Minister. During his second term as Prime Minister, a term of over sixteen years - by far the longest unbroken tenure in that office - Menzies dominated Australian politics like no one else has ever done before or since, and these years laid the foundations for modern Australia. The Menzies era saw huge economic growth, social change and considerable political turmoil. Covering the impact of the great Labor split of 1955 as well as the recovery of the Labor Party under Whitlam's leadership in the late 1960s and the impact of the Vietnam War on Australian politics, this magisterial book offers a comprehensive assessment of the importance of the Menzies era in Australian life, history and politics. John Howard, only ten when Menzies rose to power, and in young adulthood when the Menzies era came to an end, saw Menzies as an inspiration and a role model. His unique insights and thoughtful analysis into Menzies the man, the politician, and his legacy make this a fascinating, highly significant book. 'This important book' Clive James, Times Literary Supplement