Synopses & Reviews
After the revolutions of 1989, Isabel Fonseca lived and traveled with the Gypsies of Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the former Yugoslavia, Romainia, and Albania listening to their stories and recording their attempts to become something more than despised outsiders.
In Bury Me Standing, alongside unforgettable portraits of individuals the poet, the politician, the child prostitute are vivid insights into the wit, language, wisdom, and taboos of the Roma. In a compelling narrative account of this large and landless minority, Fonseca also traces their long-ago exodus out of India and their history of relentless persecution: enslaved by the princes of medieval Romania; massacred by the Nazis in what the Roma call "the Devouring"; forcibly assimilated by the communist regime; and, most recently, evicted from their settlements by nationalistic mobs in the new "democracies" of the East, and under violent attack in the Western countries to which many have fled.
Review
"[Fonseca] details the discrimination that has kept the Gypsies...from development of an identity and acceptance by the international community." Library Journal
Review
"[A]dmirably musters difficult material into a story of vividly sketched individuals and enlightening ideas." New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
Isabel Fonseca describes the four years she spent with Gypsies from Albania to Poland, listening to their stories, deciphering their taboos, and befriending their matriarchs, activists, and child prostitutes. A masterful work of personal reportage, this volume is also a vibrant portrait of a mysterious people and an essential document of a disappearing culture. 50 photos.
Synopsis
A masterful work of personal reportage, this volume is also a vibrant portrait of a mysterious people and an essential document of a disappearing culture.
Fabled, feared, romanticized, and reviled, the Gypsies or Roma are among the least understood people on earth. Their culture remains largely obscure, but in Isabel Fonseca they have found an eloquent witness.
In Bury Me Standing, alongside unforgettable portraits of individuals the poet, the politician, the child prostitute Fonseca offers sharp insights into the humor, language, wisdom, and taboos of the Roma. She traces their exodus out of India 1,000 years ago and their astonishing history of persecution: enslaved by the princes of medieval Romania; massacred by the Nazis; forcibly assimilated by the communist regimes; evicted from their settlements in Eastern Europe, and most recently, in Western Europe as well. Whether as handy scapegoats or figments of the romantic imagination, the Gypsies have always been with us but never before have they been brought so vividly to life.
Includes fifty black and white photos."