Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under

Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny

*As heard on NPRâ€™s All Things Considered*

â€œUtterly original.â€ â€”The New York Times Book Review

â€œMixing bold journalism with bolder allegories, Mr. SzabÅ‚owski teaches us with witty persistence that we must desire freedom rather than simply expect it.â€ â€”Timothy Snyder,Â New York TimesÂ bestselling author ofÂ On Tyranny and The Road to Unfreedom

An award-winning journalistâ€™sÂ incisive, humorous, and heartbreaking account of people in formerly Communist countries holding fast to their former lives
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For hundreds of years, Bulgarian Gypsies trained bears to dance, welcoming them into their families and taking them on the road to perform. In the early 2000s, with the fall of Communism, they were forced to release the bears into a wildlife refuge. But even today, whenever the bears see a human, they still get up on their hind legs to dance.
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In the tradition of Ryszard KapuÅ›ciÅ„ski, award-winning Polish journalist Witold SzabÅ‚owski uncovers remarkable stories of people throughout Eastern Europe and in Cuba who, like Bulgariaâ€™s dancing bears, are now free but who seem nostalgic for the time when they were not. His on-the-ground reportingâ€”of smuggling a car into Ukraine, hitchhiking through Kosovo as it declares independence, arguing with Stalin-adoring tour guides at the Stalin Museum, sleeping in Londonâ€™s Victoria Station alongside a homeless woman from Poland, and giving taxi rides to Cubans fearing for the life of Fidel Castroâ€”provides a fascinating portrait of social and economic upheaval and a lesson in the challenges of freedom and the seductions of authoritarian rule.

From the Introduction:
â€œGuys with wacky hair who promise a great deal have been springing up in our part of the world like mushrooms after rain. And people go running after them, like bears after their keepers. . . . Fear of a changing world, and longing for someone . . . who will promise that life will be the same as it was in the past, are not confined to Regime-Change Land. In half the West, empty promises are made, wrapped in shiny paper like candy. And for this candy, people are happy to get up on their hind legs and dance.â€

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer	Penguin Publishing Group
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	0143129740_used
Color	White
ReleaseDate	2018-03-06
UnitCount	1
Format	Illustrated
EANs	9780143129745

Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny

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