Insightful, humorous and often moving, Simon recounts his 1,500-mile journey, much of it on foot, between his mother's origins in Germany and his father's roots in Romania. He enjoys a very personal entrée into the lives of those around him and learns unexpected lessons about his physical limitations. He makes surprising discoveries about his unknown father and, at the same time, attempts to grasp the reasons for the bitter conflict in Bosnia which is still raging on the edge of his trajectory.
A masterful work of personal reportage, this volume is also a vibrant portrait of a mysterious people and an essential document of a disappearing culture. Fabled, feared, romanticized, and reviled, the Gypsies—or Roma—are among the least understood people on earth. Their culture remains largely obscure, but in Isabel Fonseca they have found an eloquent witness. In Bury Me Standing, alongside unforgettable portraits of individuals—the poet, the politician, the child prostitute—Fonseca offers sharp insights into the humor, language, wisdom, and taboos of the Roma. She traces their exodus out of India 1,000 years ago and their astonishing history of persecution: enslaved by the princes of medieval Romania; massacred by the Nazis; forcibly assimilated by the communist regimes; evicted from their settlements in Eastern Europe, and most recently, in Western Europe as well. Whether as handy scapegoats or figments of the romantic imagination, the Gypsies have always been with us—but never before have they been brought so vividly to life. Includes fifty black and white photos.
Some people only dream of leaving behind everything that is familiar to them in order to travel the world. Teresa actually did it! For the past five years, she has been leading a very unconventional life.This book is about her world travels and the international house-sitting business that helps to make these travels possible. It is also about making the choice to retire early and finding the courage to reinvent herself. She not only includes a lot of autobiographical material about her experiences in foreign locations, but also explains in detail how an ordinary person can lead such an adventurous life. Teresa has lived in Spain, Ireland, Prague, Malta, an island in the Dutch Antilles, multiple cities in Mexico, England and Italy. She even lived on a 57-foot boat in a marina in Baja California. Usually, she takes care of homes for up to ninety days. This book is a testament to an alternative lifestyle that supports a different way of looking at money, time, and travel. It incorporates sound advice that is based on first-hand experience. Teresa may very well be the poster girl for how to be adventurous at any age, on any income.
The son of the famous and eccentric ecdysiast recalls his life with his mother and her sometimes outrageous struggle to survive and to maintain her style of life, her menagerie of pets, and her teen-aged son
New York Times bestseller In their first book, the Junk Gypsies—sisters and stars of the popular Texas-born brand and HGTV show—combine big dreams, stories of roadside treasures found, and down-home design projects inspired by epic makeovers for friends like Miranda Lambert, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Sadie Robertson. Amie and Jolie Sikes, the Thelma and Louise of the design world, are the Junk Gypsies: a family with an addiction to flea markets, wanderlust, and Americana inspired design. In their world, cowgirls are heroes, road trips last forever, and junk is treasured. Beginning with a little bit of faith and a whole lot of heart and soul, the sisters travelled the back roads of America like gypsies, collecting roadside trinkets and tattered treasures while meeting kindred spirits and lively characters along the way. With a mix of hippie, rock n’ roll, southern charm, and big dreams, these small-town Texas girls became restless wanderers and owners and operators of their dream business and bohemian brand, Junk Gypsy. Filled with stories from their unique journey as well as DIY projects and bohemian inspired designs, Junk Gypsy is a tribute to all the rowdy gypsies, crafty junkers, free-spirited romantics, and true-blue rebels who have ever dared to dream big.
A formidable challenge to the study of Roma (Gypsy) music is the muddle of fact and fiction in determining identity. This book investigates "Gypsy music" as a marked and marketable exotic substance, and as a site of active cultural negotiation and appropriation between the real Roma and the idealized Gypsies of the Western imagination. David Malvinni studies specific composers-including Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Janacek, and Bartók-whose work takes up contested and varied configurations of Gypsy music. The music of these composers is considered alongside contemporary debates over popular music and film, as Malvinni argues that Gypsiness remains impervious to empirical revelations about the "real" Roma.
The kids from The Egypt Game are back. What game will they play next? The answer is Gypsies. While April plunges in with her usual enthusiasm, the more Melanie learns, the more something seems to be holding her back. But it's Toby who adds a really new wrinkle when he announces that he himself is a bona fide Gypsy. Plus he can get them some of his grandmother's things to use as real Gypsy props for the new game. What could be more thrilling? Then Toby suddenly and mysteriously disappears, and the kids discover that living as real-life Gypsies may not be as much fun as they thought. How will they find Toby and rescue him from the very real problems that are haunting his life?
