"She was, practically, delirious. It was clear, she was mad. But it was not only that. In the most dialectically possible manner, she was also clearly a nymphomaniac."
(‘The Unhappy Adventure of My Friend Adam Leon - a Professor, a Literary Man, a Photographer and a Martyr’)
"I admit it. I usually lie to my readers and, as much as possible, I try to lie to them beautifully. I invent characters starting from a strange nose, or from the movement of a woman's bottom, then I embroider the stories around these elements according to the way my imagination runs. And I always try to give them an air of implacability - things cannot be otherwise - of authenticity. This time around, I want to be as honest as possible to my readers, my goal being to extract the characters straight from reality and try to reconstitute their stories from real facts, and to limit my imagination as much as possible."
(‘Report on Two Couples uprooted from Reality, accompanied by a Vague, Imprecise Commentary regarding Reality as such’)
Reviews:
"The titles of Liviu’s stories set up an atmosphere of intrigue. Take, for instance, ‘The Innocent and Collateral Victims of a Bloody War with Russia, which, in the end, did not take place’ and ‘Report on Two Couples uprooted from Reality, accompanied by a Vague, Imprecise Commentary regarding Reality as such’. On the surface, these titles are a summary of the stories’ events, but they actually pose questions which, slyly carve out a pathway through the playful narratives, and take the reader to the heart of Liviu's intention. The stories themselves are a montage of factual observation and inquisitiveness, married to an acute insightfulness and a daring post-modernist style. They offer a radical perception of change and movement throughout Europe from a pair of fresh eyes, enlivened and enthused by the watershed of European accession. Liviu, however, is setting out achieve something even more personal and deeply felt. Each story explores some aspect of memory in which family life, the life of the community, and the events which define life in the nation are mingled." (Mike Phillips)
"Liviu Antonesei's stories create an ambience in which you do not feel at all an intruder; they are an ingenious merger of simple life, essay, diary and reportage." (Grigore Chiper)
"He brings back the voice of the author into the text, without any inhibitions, ably mixing reality with fiction. (...) And, it has to be said, the stories of Liviu Antonesei are seducing..." (Andrei Bodiu)
About the Author:
LIVIU ANTONESEI (born 1953) is a professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the Al. I. Cuza University of Iași; he is a member of the Romanian al PEN Club and ASPRO (The Association of Professional Writers); he is the founder of the cultural magazine Timpul (The Time).
His literary debut took place in 1988 with Semnele timpului (Signs of the Time). Other works: Pharmakon (poetry, 1989), Căutarea căutării (The Search of Searches, poetry, 1990), Vremea în schimbare (Times in a State of Change; interviews, 1995), Apariția Eonei și celelalte poeme de dragoste culese din Arborele Gnozei (The Appearance of Eona and the Other Love Poems Picked from the Tree of Gnosis, 1999), Nautilus. Structuri, momente și modele în cultura interbelică (Nautilus. Structures, Moments and Models in Inter-War Culture, 1999; second edition 2007), Despre dragoste. Anatomia unui sentiment (About Love. The Anatomy of a Sentiment, 2000; e-edition 2005; second edition 2010), Check Point Charlie. Șapte povestiri fără a mai socoti și prefața (Check Point Charlie. Seven Stories, without Counting the Foreword, 2003), La Morrison Hotel. Povestiri de pînă azi (At the Morrison Hotel. Stories until Nowadays, 2007).
At Polirom publishing house he also published: Jurnal din anii ciumei: 1987-1989. Încercări de psihologie spontană (Journal from the Years of the Plague: 1987-1989. Attempts at Spontaneous Psychology, 1995), Paideia. Fundamentele culturale ale educației (Paideia. Cultural Fundaments of Education, 1996), O prostie a lui Platon. Intelectualii și politica (Plato’s Foolishness. Intellectuals and Politics, 1997), Literatura, ce poveste! Un diptic și cîteva linkuri în rețeaua literaturii (Literature - What a Story! A Diptych and Some Links in the Network of Literature, 2004), Polis și Paideia. Șapte studii despre educație, cultură și politici educative (Polis and Paideia. Seven Studies on Education, Culture and Educational Policies, 2005). In 2013, Liviu Antonesei published a new volume of poetry, Un taur în vitrina de piatră (A Bull in the Stone Display).
His most recent short-story collection at Polirom in 2011 is The Innocent and Collateral Victims of a Bloody War with Russia (Victimele inocente și colaterale ale unui sîngeros război cu Rusia, 2011).
Always a busy promoter of culture and education, Liviu was also active as the editorial director of Adenium publishing house, and the President of the Festival of Books and Authors for Children and Young Adults in Iași.
Kindle £2.99 ; Paperback £7.99
ISBN-13: 978-0956867650
Paperback: 200 pages
Translated from the Romanian by Mihai Risnoveanu, Mike Phillips and Ramona Mitrica
Cover photo by Laura Lazar
PROFUSION GOLD SERIES - Fiction
Liviu Antonesei - The Innocent and Collateral Victims of a Bloody War with Russia, short stories
Stelian Țurlea - Greuceanu – Novel with a Policeman, novel
Augustin Buzura - Report on the State of Loneliness, novel
Series Editor: Mike Phillips