Zoo Station: Adventures in East and West Berlin (Paperback)

by Ian Walker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This rambling exploration of life on both sides of the cold war's most tangible line of demarcation is an intensely personal account by a former Central American correspondent for the Observer. Walker's friendships with the people he writes about provides an immediacy and an understanding that might otherwise be lacking. Unfortunately, Walker's private and decidedly pro-Communist political leanings are also given free rein, resulting in unabashed attacks on the West and embarrassing apologetics for and homilies on the East. He vividly portrays the seedier side of West Berlinthe only side he deals withwithout elaboration, but a reference to long food lines in East Berlin prompts him to explain that the queues allow a more equitable distribution of scarce resources. When he remarks to a friend that "what the west calls Soviet imperialism is not really comparable to US imperialism," it is clear which he considers the real evil.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
When it comes to drama, tragedy, intrigue, and downright kinkiness, the two Berlins have few urban rivals. The author of this fascinating personal account, a young British journalist with a taste for the marginal, provides the reader with a kaleidoscopic view of the city. Never forgetting that Berlin is an East-West flashpoint where two competing systems are obliged to coexist side by side, Walker shows us the city through the eyes of his numerous contacts, friends, and acquaintanceson both sides of the wall. The result is colorful armchair travel writing at its most entertaining. However, readers in search of more practical information should stick to the standard guides. Ian Wallace, Agriculture Canada Lib., St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 329 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr; 1 edition (May 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871131978
• ISBN-13: 978-0871131973
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,234,514 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book ever written on 80s alt-Berlin , January 11, 2009

By	R. Miler - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

i lived in west berlin 1983-1984 and find walker's books one of the best ever written on 80s berlin--at least the 80s berlin i knew, schöneberg, kreuzberg, the music scene, the squats. a must-read for any current berliner who has any interest in music, arts, history and politics.

as for the "execable" review below, it is journalism -- no pretenses to fine art. comparisons to beat writers are absurd. i don't know what part or social sector of berlin that reviewer lived in, but he clearly missed the best stuff as seen in the book "zoo station."

walker never wrote the book on Nicaragua as he sadly died in the early 90s.

Ian Walker
August 13, 1952 - December 8, 1990
RIP!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars description of sybaritic person's view of divided Berlin, September 27, 1997

By A Customer

Just read while visitng Berlin in 1997. Good historical background of divided city. I enjoyed his perspective of questioning both societies' institutions (he was in his 20's & lived with many other young people who partied & lived a hedonistic poor life in West Berlin.) Excellent background for a 1st time visitor to Berlin. I'd like to find more of author's writing but unable to.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Song of the Shirt, February 20, 2000

By	nevin thompson (Japan) - See all my reviews

"Zoo Station" is important as a document of the young Left in the West in the 1980s, during a time when the United States was funding vicious wars in Central America and the Soviet Union was preparing to collapse. Since the Berlin Wall has fallen , few people have had much good to say about the governments of the former Eastern Bloc countries, and the media treats the continued existance of a strong communist movement in Eastern Germany as an anachronism. Having read "Zoo Station", I was able to understand why some people regarded East Germany as a pinnacle of socialist achievement, much more preferable to its capitalist twin in the West. It is good travel writing, and is both politically and culturally astute.

Walker's life among the Turkish residents of Kreuzberg in Berlin also has helped me understand the predicament of guestworkers in Germany, the country with the highest percentage of resident "foreigners" in Europe.

More than anything, "Zoo Station" highlights Walker's skill as a journalist, and it's a shame he never did publish that book on Nicaragua like he said he would.