Calamities of Exile: Three Nonfiction Novellas [Hardcover]

Lawrence Weschler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226893936 | ISBN-13: 978-0226893938 | Publication Date: May 23, 1996 | Edition: 1

From the author of Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder, Calamities of Exile combines three gripping narratives that afford a sort of double CAT scan into the natures of both modern totalitarianism and timeless exile.

"Beautiful but harrowing chronicles of three exiles that probe the moral and personal risks of their encounters with totalitarianism. . . . Piercing and timely."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Weschler . . . combines a novelist's gift for drama with the objectivity and research skills of a journalist. . . . The result is three gripping profiles of very human but also extraordinary men."—Publishers Weekly

"[Weschler's] thorough accounting of the men's covert operations, assumed identities and strained relationships with fathers, wives, and colleagues creates a disturbing triptych of the perils of totalitarianism."—Lance Gould, New York Times Book Review

"Weschler tells these three tragic tales with an admirable combination of psychological penetration, intellectual thrust, concision and compassion."—Francis King, Spectator

"Endlessly absorbing. . . . Breathtaking."—Jeri Laber, Los Angeles Times Book Review

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The three essays in this volume, each long enough to be referred to as a nonfiction novella, originally appeared in the New Yorker, where Weschler is a staff writer. They engage directly with the theme of political exile by delving into the lives of three exiles: South African author Breyten Breytenbach, who would attempt to reenter the country to participate more actively in the struggle against apartheid, only to be captured and imprisoned; Kanan Makiya, an Iraqi whose Republic of Fear offered many Westerners their first in-depth knowledge of Saddam Hussein's regime; and Jan Karan, a participant in the 1968 revolution in Prague who, after years of running a smuggling operation in and out of Czechoslovakia, would return to his liberated homeland only to be denounced for alleged collaboration with its Communist oppressors.

Lawrence Weschler is one of the late 20th century's best journalists, a master of the profile format. He offers the reader tremendous amounts of information, including extensive historical backgrounds, without ever sacrificing any of his prose's immediacy or clarity. Given that his three subjects have each fought against oppressive regimes, it would be easy to portray them as simplistic heroes, but Weschler takes great pains to show the full complexities of their characters, even when it casts them in a less than flattering light. By reading Calamities of Exile, you will learn much about international politics, but, more importantly, you will learn much about people. --Ron Hogan

From Booklist

Weschler, author of the recent heralded Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonders (1995), here writes three short nonfiction tales of three exiles. Jan Kavan, son of a loyal Jewish Czech Communist who was inexplicably purged in the 1950s, smuggled samizdat material into Czechoslovakia from London. While living in London, Kanan Makiya, the son of Iraq's preeminent architect, pseudonymously published a book about Iraqi atrocities under Saddam Hussein. South African Breyten Breytenbach's mercenary brother waged war on blacks, whereas Breyten became a painter and poet in Paris, married a Vietnamese woman, and denounced his government for denouncing their marriage. All fled repressive regimes that wished to make them examples, and all took what they considered morally proper action. But all experienced betraying friends, shifting truths, and feelings of homelessness. Breytenbach returned and was arrested; Kavan returned and won election; Makiya vowed never to return. The underlying theme is how governments and other decent citizens undercut those taking moral stands. Americans should learn a lot from these tales. Kevin Grandfield

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 211 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (May 23, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226893936
• ISBN-13: 978-0226893938
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #818,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Cross-Cultural Look at Totalitarianism, August 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Calamities of Exile: Three Nonfiction Novellas (Hardcover)

Weschler is a brilliant and amazing storyteller. I had followed his work closely in the New Yorker and other publications. Written like a novel, this book is a fascinating true-life look at three totalitarian regimes through the eyes of exiles who fought dictators in their own ways. The juxtoposition of the threee unrelated experiences provides some interesting insights into what totalitarianism is at its root and how it affects the people who live under its governance.