Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania

These ironic but affectionate short stories, about ordinary people in often-extraordinary circumstances, have earned glowing reviews from Romania’s literary critics and general readers. Some dubbed the author ‘our British Caragiale’, after the 19th century playwright and satirist. The collection - funny and bittersweet – has become a cult read among Romaniaphiles, Romanians and the uninitiated, around the world. The book offers tragi-comic glimpses of this irresistible, dynamic and enthralling country, where locals say, "Ca la noi, la nimeni: there’s nobody quite like us.” That’s neither a boast nor a confession, just a fact, and Ormsby’s colourful characters will entertain, educate and enrage. It depends who is reading. Mike Ormsby is a writer and former BBC journalist/World Service trainer.