Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian, Paperback/Aleko Konstantinov

A comic classic of world literature, Aleko Konstantinov s 1895 novel Bai Ganyo follows the misadventures of rose-oil salesman Ganyo Balkanski ( Bai is a Bulgarian title of intimate respect) as he travels in Europe. Unkempt but endearing, Bai Ganyo blusters his way through refined society in Vienna, Dresden, and St. Petersburg with an eye peeled for pickpockets and a free lunch. Konstantinov s satire turns darker when Bai Ganyo returns home bullying, bribing, and rigging elections in Bulgaria, a new country that had recently emerged piecemeal from the Ottoman Empire with the help of Czarist Russia. Bai Ganyo has been translated into most European languages, but now Victor Friedman and his fellow translators have finally brought this Balkan masterpiece to English-speaking readers, accompanied by a helpful introduction, glossary, and notes.Winner, Bulgarian Studies Association Book PrizeFinalist, Foreword Magazine s Multicultural Fiction Book of the YearWinner, John D. Bell Book Prize, Bulgarian Studies AssociationBest Books for Special Interests, selected by the American Association for School LibrariesBest Books for High Schools, selected by the American Association for School LibrariesBest Books for Special Interests, selected by the Public Library Association"