Balkanized at Sunrise Book

OK. Let me start by noting that (once again) this is a book which the author himself ranked as "5 stars." And, like I stated last time I came across this...who does this??

Anyway, the book is pretty average. This is interesting, b/c the last "author-self-ranked-as-5-stars" book I read was also pretty average.

My suspicion is that the book was a "short version" which the author sent out to publishing companies hoping to get an advance to turn it into a larger book. Either that, or it was a screenplay he turned into a book. I may be wrong, but the fact that it is only 107pp. and showed no official publisher leads me to believe something flopped somewhere and it ended up being self-published (I could be wrong).

Regardless, I suppose that isn't enough to condemn the book outright. It's not an "Austerlitz-Level Heaping Pile of Horsecrap" by a long shot. Then again, I'm pretty sure nothing could ever be as bad as "Austerlitz." Sebald = the Worst.

Anyway, the concept here seems interesting - the author (apparently) was hired to write a glowing biography of Franjo Tudjman in order to shape his image into a person NOT deserving of a Crimes Against Humanity trial in the Hague. So, he goes to the Balkans to do that. Supposedly, "much hilarity ensued" as a result (even if the book says "ensured" (sic) on the author-page).

Well, the book wasn't that funny. It had a couple brief one-liners that were OK, but nothing "hilarious" by a long shot. Nor does the reader really learn a lot about the Balkans or Tudjman beyond a thin, surface level (at best).

I will say that at least the author didn't take the traditional western viewpoint of "Serbs Bad, Everybody Else Good" and brought SOME light to Tudjman being a war-criminal on par w/ Milosevich (and others). Such neutrality was appreciated. But, given the relatively low production-value and the not-so-great story therein, this view is not likely to reach a wide audience.

If you find it laying around a youth hostel or something, then it's not a horrible book to read. Besides, it shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours or so. But, I wouldn't buy it.