The Diary of a Political Idiot: Normal Life in Belgrade [Paperback]

Jasmina Tesanovic (Author), Tim Judah (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2000

Labeled a traitor by nationalist Serbians because she opposes the war in Kosovo, a dissident journalist chronicles the intimate details that haunt her daily life. Amidst the bombardment, however, hope persists: neighbors braving air attacks to commune at midnight Easter service; young women performing ballet recitals despite all threats of danger; strangers gathered for safety, waiting for the next NATO bomb to strike. The author takes us beyond the sound bites of the nightly news by offering a firsthand account of daily life in a war zone. The Diary of a Political Idiot was named a PEN selection for 2000 and has been simultaneously published in 11 languages.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Shows us how ‘they’ could be ‘us’; what it feels like, what it is like to be trapped in a country isolated by its regime, where completely ordinary people pay for the crimes of their leaders."—Tim Judah, author of KOSOVO: WAR AND REVENGE

From the Inside Flap

"This is a thoughtful and courageous book. As NATO bombs rain overhead and Yugoslav anti-aircraft guns flash through the night sky over Belgrade, Jasmina Tesanovic opens her diary and records what it is like to live in a city under siege. Day after day, she takes to the streets in search of her own moral compass, passing by terrified neighbors huddling in basements and mobs of vandals roaming through the city, destroying Western buildings. Ambiguous about Clinton's "humanitarian war," but vehemently opposed to Milosevic's carnage in Kosovo, she asks: "Which cross should I bear? NATO bombs or Serb Killings?" Her answer provides a rare glimpse into the mindset of ordinary Serbs who, because of their isolation and indifference, are paying dearly for the crimes of a tyrant." —Eric Stover, Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, Author of THE GRAVES: SREBRENICA AND VUKOVAR

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press (October 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573441147
• ISBN-13: 978-1573441148
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #959,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > History > Europe > Serbia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An important human testimony, November 1, 2000

By 

Michael B. Sterling (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Diary of a Political Idiot: Normal Life in Belgrade (Paperback)

This is the best of the Belgrade Internet diaries, by a Serbian feminist and peace activist who was at Belgrade ground zero during this very interesting and very unfortunate conflict.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyday life in hell, February 12, 2002

By 

Stephen O. Murray "Stephen O. Murray" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Diary of a Political Idiot: Normal Life in Belgrade (Paperback)

Until I happened on this book, I didn't know that I was interested in what it was like to be a Serb while NATO was bombing Serbia (and Milosevic's troops were slaughtering Albanians in Kosovo). As much as Tesanovic despised what Milosovich and other Serbian nationalists were doing (in her name), she was also outraged by the casual acceptance of "collateral damage," that is, the destruction of civilian targets (including one that counted: the PRC embassy in Belgrade) and killing of civilians by carefully targeted NATO (US) bombs.

Tesanovic uses "idiot" in an ancient Greek sense, as meaning a common personwho cannot be trusted to make public decisions: "I am unable to make judgements. I see no options I can identiy with.... All the political options sound aggressive, stupid or far-fetched compared to my simple needs" as a mother. "I don't feel safe here, or happy, or free. I'm a refugee in my own city." Belgrade is/was a city with refugees from the "ethnic cleansing" of Croatia, even as Serbs engaged in "cleansing" of Serbia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. The Serbian nationalists considered Tesanovic a traitor; she considered them dangerously deluded and criminal. "In my country," she wrote, "uniforms always take away the power of speech from citizens, because uinforms carry guns, and citizens carry fear, so there is a permanent civil war going on between uniforms and civilians.

Although she defended foreign intervention again national barbarism, she was far from enthusiastic about the sanctimoniousness of the forces of civilization.Her despairing analyses of those in Serbian and in UN uniforms are acute, but what is most fascinating about the book is the detail about everyday life: a female cousin dying of AIDS, other women deciding to have abortion from concern with the toxins they have been exposed to from bombed buildings, the children with no school getting bored and ever more unmanageable in the dark, intermitent electricity, visits from friends whose water supply has been cut off.

4 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not too different from other war diaries I have read, November 20, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Diary of a Political Idiot: Normal Life in Belgrade (Paperback)

This story is not much different from similar diaries andaccounts I have read about other peoples pacifist accounts inconflicts such as in Korea, Indo-China and Lebanon. The same pacifistattitudes and vibes filter through. Reading Tim Judah's (a prolificwriter of anti-Serb texts) introduction was enough for me to knowwhere this book was heading.