Following the practice of conversation-based portraits of writers such as Borges or García Marquez, this book is a reworked version of what was originally a radio interview, conducted by a friend and colleague, the poet Zsófia Balla, who likewise hails from Kolozsvár. Balla's questions therefore come with an insider's knowledge, but they are not intrusive. Roughly one third of the book is devoted to the story of Bodor's imprisonment, told in a dry and ironic tone, but it touches upon the grim political and intellectual climate that ruled Kolozsvár's particular version of Eastern Europe's common plight during the 1960s and 70s. Although there are appended bibliographies of Bodor's own works (including translations) and of selected articles that review or discuss them, this book is much more about Bodor's life, temperament and character. He has a reputation for being an intensely private person, but here he chats away companionably whenever the opportunity presents itself.

 

"I strongly suspect that if the people I write about didn't breed bears in the odious darkness of abandoned mine shafts, but cheerfully raised pigs on the heaven-lit Hungarian plains...my work would be much more uplifting, but no one would ever read any of it."

                                                                                  -Ádám Bodor