Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania: Close your guidebook and meet the people!

Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania: Close your guidebook and meet the people!

'Never Mind the Balkans, Here’s Romania' has been described as one of<br />the best guide books on Romania. If you want to discover Romania with<br />someone who knows it well, Mike Ormsby’s travel writing is for you.<br /><br />Whilst the average Romania travel guide provides details of places to<br />visit, this writer takes a different approach. Ormsby gets up close<br />and personal, blending journalistic objectivity with dry wit to craft<br />true-life stories about the people who live in Romania: from friendly<br />hikers and shepherds in Transylvania, to exasperated taxi drivers and<br />bossy bureaucrats in Bucharest.<br /><br />Ormsby's bittersweet short stories are a quick and easy read yet offer<br />fascinating glimpses of an enthralling land that Vlad ‘The Impaler’<br />Tepes - real life inspiration for gothic legend Dracula - once ruled<br />with an iron fist.<br /><br />Mike Ormsby’s first visited Romania in spring 1994 as a BBC reporter.<br />Touched by the hospitality and wry humour of the local people, he soon<br />returned to teach journalism at BBC World Service School in Bucharest,<br />and remained in that post for several years, writing in his spare<br />time.<br /><br />Published in 2008, ‘Never Mind the Balkans, Here’s Romania’, was well<br />received by Romania’s literary critics, several of whom dubbed Ormsby<br />'The British Caragiale', in deference to their beloved fin-de-siècle<br />satirist and playwright. Ion Luca Caragiale shone a humorous and<br />affectionate light on Romania in his era, and Mike Ormsby does the<br />same in ours.<br /><br />Numerous expats and visitors have also welcomed the book as a unique<br />and modern variation on the more conventional Romania travel guide.<br /><br />‘Never Mind the Balkans, Here’s Romania’ is a memorable collection of<br />travel writing that provides a unique insight into this irresistible<br />country, where locals say, "Ca la noi, la nimeni - there's nobody<br />quite like us."<br /><br />So, close your guide book and meet the people! Ormsby's cast of<br />colourful characters will entertain, educate, and even enrage - it<br />depends who’s reading.<br /><br />Many reviewers praise the book’s frank and funny descriptions of life<br />in Romania:<br /><br />“This chronicle of slightly agonised passion for a country and its<br />people is exactly the kind of Romania guidebook that a visitor needs -<br />an insight into the culture's paradoxical heart.”<br /><br />“Wonderfully captures many aspects of living and working in Romania -<br />funny, frequently frustrating and uniquely Romanian.”<br /><br />“A good read on the cultural changes in post-communist Romania with a<br />comical slant. An interesting piece of social commentary.”<br /><br />“A fascinating view of Romanian people, witty and readable.”<br /><br />“If you enjoy honest travel writing this is definitely worth a read.”<br /><br />“If you're planning a trip or have already been, this is an<br />insightful, informative, and funny book on Romania and Romanians.”<br /><br />“The book is a series of short witty essays about everyday life and<br />friendships in modern Romania. Ormsby skilfully brings out the<br />contradictions, contrasts, warmth, and beauty of a fascinating country<br />and its colourful people.”<br /><br />“‘Never Mind the Balkans, Here’s Romania’ is an intimate tour of<br />Romania with an expert guide. Perfect for the truly adventurous as<br />well as the armchair traveller. Ormsby smuggles you deep inside this<br />extraordinary country and into the minds of its people. A brilliant<br />read.”<br /><br />“A fascinating journey through Romanian geography and culture, told<br />with warmth and hope.”<br /><br />“I loved this book. An anecdotal review of life in Romania from the<br />perspective of an Englishman with typically dry humour. Highly<br />recommended, a great read, and I was laughing from beginning to end.”<br /><br />“A realistic and very humorous insight into the Romanian psyche. As<br />someone who has travelled extensively in Romania I could relate to<br />many incidents.”<br /><br />“Never Mind the Balkans has become one of the best-selling books ever<br />written about Romania by a foreigner. Romania is the protagonist of<br />the book, not Mike Ormsby.”