The Story Smuggler

<p><b><i>'Some smuggle cigarettes, others alcohol - or weapons.</i><br> <i>Our contraband, being invisible, is more dangerous.</i><br> <i>Our contraband is undetectable by scanners.</i><br> <i>What we carry as concealed excess baggage is stories.'</i></b><br> <br> In this exquisite literary gem, Georgi Gospodinov, winner of the International Booker Prize, invites the reader on a winding journey through his own memories.<br> <br> He shows us a childhood under Communism, a particularly Bulgarian variety of melancholy, the freedom and thrills found in reading and writing, and the coming of age of one extraordinary writer.<br> <br> Ultimately, this profound, playful and deeply moving autobiographical text offers resounding proof of the power and importance of storytelling.<br> <br> <b>TRANSLATED FROM THE BULGARIAN BY KRISTINA KOVACHEVA AND DAN GUNN</b></p>