An entrancing, otherworldly collection of short stories from one of
Europe's most accomplished 20th century writers, new to Penguin Modern
Classics A counter-prophet attempts the impossible to prove his power; a
girl sees the hideous fate of her sisters and father in a mirror bought
from a gypsy; the death of a prostitute causes an unanticipated
uprising; and the lives of every ordinary person since 1789 are
recreated in the almighty Encyclopedia of the Dead. These stories about
love and death, truth and lies, myth and reality range across many
epochs and settings. Brilliantly combining fact and fiction, epic and
miniature, horror and comedy, this was Danilo Kis final work, published
in Serbo-Croatian in 1983. Kis is one of the great European writers of
the post-war period - Guardian Compulsively readable - Daily Telegraph
Fantasy chases reality and reality chases fantasy. Pirandello and Borges
are not far away. But these names are intended as approximate
references. Kis is a new, original writer - Times Literary Supplement
Intense and exotic, his mysteries hint at unspeakable secrets that
remain forever beyond the story-teller's grasp - Boyd Tonkin Danilo Kis
was born in the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1935. After an unsettled
childhood during the Second World War, in which several of his family
members were killed, Kis studied literature at the University of
Belgrade where he lived for most of his adult life. He wrote novels,
short stories and poetry and went on to receive the prestigious NIN
Award for his novel Pescanik. He died in Paris in 1989. Mark Thompson is
a British historian. His published work includes Birth Certificate: The
Story of Danilo Kis.
