Eastern Europe’s New Wave

What’s with the emergence of exceptional novels by Eastern Europeans or about Eastern Europe? The trend began a few months ago, with new books by Jonathan Safran Foer, Gary Shteyngart and Arthur Phillips. Joining the list is Aleksandar Hemon, whose new novel, “Nowhere Man,” is being released this week. Hemon, a Bosnian who lives in the U.S. and writes in English, has a wonderful literary touch, so I hope to find the time to read his newest offering, about which Shteyngart has written a rave review in The New York Times.

Author: Peter Maass

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post.