Freedom from depression: Coverings and revelations from us, a new book by Radu Paraschivescu, is available for pre-order, with the author's autograph, on the websites Libhumanitas, Libris, Cărturești, Diverta, Librărie.net. Delivery starts on May 13th. You can read a few pages here.
The lie is not only at the table with the king, as in Vlahuţă's poem, but also with a good part of Romania's politicians. And she is not the only host of parliamentarians, mayors and big or small farmers. There are others, regardless of whether we are in an election year or not. The texts from Freedom from depression this is what I'm talking about: the way a country dream can become a nightmare. About our new type of Catavenci, ready to fight with the brick of patriotism in their chest. About impostors and thieves, about hooligans and the uninvited, about swindlers and servants with felt backs, about themselves sick of galloping messianism and harmful buffoons. They are only part of the characters present in Radu Paraschivescu's texts – a cast in which you can sometimes guess echoes of South American prose. And, even if we find ourselves in a period when the country seems oriented in a good direction, you can't help but wonder how we would have looked if our decision-makers had not been the result of such a massive counter-selection. Where would we be if merit and competence had outranked the pile and spin? How would we feel without so many pathogens that pollute our lives and destroy our joints?
With humor and tenderness, with critical spirit and understanding, Radu Paraschivescu once again takes his readers through the “meanders of the Carpathian concrete” and tells them, as he has done so many times, that Romania is a space that must be protected, as possibly, by the aggression of dubious characters with appropriate agendas. From politics, from sports, from business – in general, from all areas where impostors infiltrate easily, so that it is then difficult, if not impossible, to evacuate.
