"Γgota KristΓ³f packs volumes into this elegant shape-shifting novella. It's simultaneously a sly exploration of storytelling and a powerful narrative about immigration and the pitfalls of starting over in a new country. Yesterday is a necessary and uncannily timely work by one of the unsung geniuses of contemporary literature." β Jeff Jackson, author of Destroy All Monsters and Mira Corpora
In spare, elegant prose, this modern novella recounts a troubled young man's flight from a judgmental village. Β Tobias, the illegitimate son of a prostitute and the local schoolmaster, finds peace with a factory job in the comfortable anonymity of a city. But his fragile respite is shattered by the appearance of Caroline, his boyhood love, who materializes with a husband and child in tow.
This Dover edition marks Yesterday's first U.S. publication. Originally written in French by Hungarian author Γgota KristΓ³f, this haunting exploration of dislocation, the search for love and belonging, and life as an emigrant continues to resonate today.Β
βOffers a lucid, poignant narrative of the struggle to find meaning in a world of 'unbearable waiting and . . . inexpressible silence.'"Β β Publishers Weekly
"Many of KristΓ³f's stark vignettes, reported in unflinching detail...have a cool, disturbing power β part documentary-like, part surreal β that is fierce and distinctive." βΒ Kirkus Reviews
"Γgota KristΓ³f tackles the theme of the double and the irreparable damage caused by severance from one's roots with a writing of rare sobriety and a spareness which, avoiding all superfluous sentimentality, goes right to the heart." βΒ Marie Claire
"KristΓ³f β most brilliant when she is blackest β plots a denouement that lies on the bleaker side of black. Read it, shudder, and utter thanks." βΒ Scotland on Sunday
"Γgota KristΓ³f packs volumes into this elegant shape-shifting novella. It's simultaneously a sly exploration of storytelling and a powerful narrative about immigration and the pitfalls of starting over in a new country. Yesterday is a necessary and uncannily timely work by one of the unsung geniu...