I have been anxious to open up this one by Josip Novakovich that I picked up at the Wesleyan Conference, and am quite impressed by just the first chapter.
The book itself physically impresses me because as a framer of fine art, the archival paper used struck a chord. I also love the cover art. But on to content.
I certainly wish that I had not read the back cover and the Advance Praise wherein Francine Prose states, "Josip Novakovich’s wry Croatian Candide is our sympathetic guide, etc." I wonder now if I would have picked up on this myself, being fresh off of Candide. The similarity is there, in the very plainly written words describing very nasty things that the protagonist plans for his little brother, for example. It is this oddness that can be so easily presented as fact that puts the reader in a frame of mind completely open to whatever happens next.
And of course, very anxious to find out. Having been subjected to Mr. Novakovich’s sense of humor in a few classes at the conference, I still don’t quite know what to expect. I think I’m going to like this one.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology