Witold Szablowski, DANCING BEARS Great reviews in the US!

We are happy to announce that Witold Szabłowski’s book DANCING BEARS has gathered excellent reviews in the US. The most recent is a full-page review in The New York Times Book Review written by Peter Pomerantsev  who praises the book for its originality and unique composition and points out that it  “Provokes a far-reaching and unresolved conversation about what freedom might really mean.”

To read the whole review, please click here link

Here are some of the best pull-quotes for the book so far:

“Utterly original . . . Provokes a far-reaching and unresolved conversation about what freedom might really mean.” —The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

“Fascinating . . . A set of case studies full of tensions and contradictions.” —The New Republic

“Witold Szabłowski is a born storyteller. His reports from the post-Communist world read like fairy-tales with the stench of reality. Absurd, darkly funny, compassionate, his book is a literary jewel.” —Ian Buruma, author of Year Zero and Murder in Amsterdam

“One of the truest and most beautiful things I’ve read.” —Tim Flannery, bestselling author of The Weather Makers

“Should be required reading for anyone hoping to understand the growing appeal of authoritarian leaders in Eastern Europe today . . . Combining black humor with lyrical prose, Szabłowski brilliantly captures the tragic disorientation of men and women whose lives were bifurcated by the sudden collapse of Communism and ruthless onslaught of neoliberal capitalism. . . . A poignant allegory about the human costs of regime change.” —Kristen Ghodsee, author of Red Hangover: Legacies of Twentieth-Century Communism

“A fascinating and wide-ranging book that shows how, across different and diverse species, old habits die slowly, if at all. Humans, like other animals, often don’t know when they’ve gained freedom because conditions of oppression have become the norm and they’re unable to adjust to a newfound lack of restraint. Szabłowski’s clever and metaphorical use of dancing bears to make this point is beautifully done.” —Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado; coauthor of The Animals’ Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Age of Humans

“What a gem of a book. . . . So eloquent and original about the psychological transition from regimes.” —Ruth Ben-Ghiat, New York University

“Fascinating.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“A brisk narrative [and] a surprising look at societies grappling with profound change.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Heartrending . . . A sharply drawn account.” —Publishers Weekly

“A fascinating portrait of social and economic upheaval and a lesson in the challenges of freedom and the seductions of authoritarian rule.” —The Awl