{"product_id":"nosignal-area-isbn-9781609809706","title":"No-Signal Area","description":"Oleg and Nikola—hustlers, entrepreneurs, ambassadors of capitalism—have come to the town of N to build an obsolete turbine, never mind why. Enlisting the help of former engineer Sobotka, they reopen the old turbine factory, preaching the gospel of “self-organization” and bringing new life to the depressed post-communist town. But as the project spins out of control, Oleg and Nikola find themselves increasingly entangled with the locals, for whom this return to past prosperity brings bitter reckonings and reunions. At once a savage sendup of our current political moment and a rueful elegy for what might have been, this sprawling novel blends tragedy and comedy in its portrayal of ordinary people wondering where it all went wrong, and whether it could have gone any other way.\"\u003ci\u003eNo-Signal\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eArea\u003c\/i\u003e is a mind-blowing read—a story of crime and heroism in the real-life aftermath of an all-white race war, told with wisdom, sophistication, and passion.\" —\u003cb\u003eNell Zink\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eDoxology\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"In \u003ci\u003eNo-Signal Area\u003c\/i\u003e Perisic brilliantly captures the absurdity and chaos of a society in transition. A poetic punk ethos saturates the book—defiant, anarchic, exuberant, and ironic—perfect for a story about hustlers and workers and dreamers and mercenaries in post-war, post-truth Croatia.\" —\u003cb\u003eMiriam Toews\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eWomen Talking\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Robert Perišić is a light bright with intelligence and twinkling with irony, flashing us the news that postwar Croatia not only endures but matters.” —\u003cb\u003eJonathan Franzen\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Corrections\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFreedom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"In Perisic’s poignant telling, the erasure of Yugoslavia and its socialist experiment continues to haunt its people, exes now adrift in a postwar vacancy. This void may be familiar to any reader who no longer feels connection to the divided, damaged nation he or she inhabits.\" \u003ci\u003e--New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A novel that shows postwar Croatia suspended between socialism and capitalism and between hopelessness and hilarity. The farcical tone that opens the latest from the highly acclaimed author leads to darker and deeper implications within an expansive novel that suggests insanity might be the best way to adapt to the new normal of a world gone mad and that language has blurred any distinction between truth and lies... Ultimately, these are people caught between -isms, between an unworkable past and an unthinkable future... Toward the end, the third-person narration gives way to a series of first-person soliloquies, and at first it can be a challenge to tell who is speaking—but that confusion ultimately reinforces the sense that individual voices, lives, and fates are being subsumed within the chaos of systems falling apart. The climax finds art markets and revenue streams converging in a way that seems both impossible and inevitable. \u003cb\u003eA sharp, subversive novel of ideas that seems to reflect an era in which ideas themselves are bankrupt.\u003c\/b\u003e” —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKirkus Reviews \u003c\/b\u003e(starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Two men arrive in a rural Eastern European town to arrange for the reopening of a local factory in this sharp portrayal of modern capitalism from Perisic (\u003ci\u003eOur Man in Iraq\u003c\/i\u003e). Upon arriving in “N,” Oleg and Nikola plan to reopen the factory, which has been shut for many years after the break-up of the Soviet Union, with the help of the locals in order to manufacture two industrial turbines to fulfil a contract Oleg has arranged with “the Colonel,” the leader of a Middle Eastern country. Once the factory is running, Perisic broadens the story’s focus, moving back in time to give Nikola and Oleg’s backstories, exploring the lives of villagers and those who have left or been forced from the village, and circling back to a crashing grand finale.\u003cb\u003e Impressively blending the absurd, dire, and comic, Perisic relates often tragic events, but his characters somehow manage to persevere. This clever, ambitious take on the influences of capitalism on Eastern Europe will be perfect for fans of Umberto Eco.\u003c\/b\u003e\" —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This is a remarkable novel; one that  makes demands on the reader in all the best ways.  On the surface, it is a scam story set in the backwater Balkan town of N., where those forgotten by time in the aftermath of the collapse of  the Cold War and the very hot ones which followed, subtly acquires a rich, complex universality. Where lies and deception define reality, only the mad live in the unreality of truth. Everything becomes a show without substance—all the more alluring to those cast adrift. \u003cb\u003eFilled with complicated characters, deft storytelliing, and a sublime intellectual depth, Robert Perisic's novel should be sought after and savored\u003c\/b\u003e.\" —\u003cb\u003eShawn Wathen\u003c\/b\u003e, Chapter One Bookstore, Hamilton, MTROBERT PERIŠIĆ’s novel \u003ci\u003eOur Man in Iraq\u003c\/i\u003e garnered rave reviews from the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e, and\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eNPR’s “All Things Considered,” among others, and was praised as “a must-read” by the \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e. Perišić has published award-winning nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and criticism in his native Croatia, where both \u003ci\u003eOur Man in Iraq \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eNo-Signal Area \u003c\/i\u003ewere best sellers. He began writing short stories in the 1990s with a clear anti-war sentiment, during the days following the devastating war that tore apart the former Yugoslavia, and is now considered to be one of the most important writers and literary critics in the region. Perišić lives in Zagreb. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eELLEN ELIAS-BURSAĆ is a translator of fiction and nonfiction from Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian. She has taught in the Harvard University Slavic Department and is a contributing editor to the online journal \u003ci\u003eAsymptote\u003c\/i\u003e. She lives in Boston.","brand":"Seven Stories Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44886102245605,"sku":"NP9781609809706","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781609809706.jpg?v=1767733830","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/nosignal-area-isbn-9781609809706","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}