Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams (41 page)

More praise for

Odessa

One of the
Wilson Quarterly
’s Ten Best of 2011

“[
Odessa
] begins as an evocative celebration of the port on the Black Sea, but it unfolds as an elegy, a moving and lyrical epitaph to what was and what is.”

—Peter M. Gianotti,
Newsday

“A superb and dreadfully moving account of the glory and subsequent murder by the Romanians of the Jewish city in Odessa. . . .
Odessa
is both celebration and lament and equally impressive as both.”

—Harold Bloom

“In his intricately researched new work, King (
The Black Sea
) brings to life the stories of the Russians, Jews, Turks, Greeks, Italians, Germans, and Romanians that make up the ‘quintessentially mixed city’ of Odessa. . . . King’s ability to lay bare the city’s secrets—both good and bad—gives a fascinating prism through which to observe.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Engaging and highly enjoyable. . . . King brings a travel writer’s gift for clear prose and keen observation to history.”

—Matthew Kaminski,
Daily Beast

“An engrossing historical narrative of political and social devel-opment from relative geopolitical obscurity, onward through the growth pangs of revolution, and into the bleak misfortunes of the 20th Century. . . . King . . . manages a narrative, fluid style that makes Odessa’s history intellectually accessible.”

—Chad Ensley,
Foreign Policy

“King evokes the dichotomy and conflict that lay below the beauty of this rugged city. . . . King’s narrative and insights do open several avenues for further research and reveal the truths behind many old myths.”

—
Library Journal

“From the Tatars to the Soviets to today’s Ukrainians, Odessa has risen—and fallen—from a great Black Sea port to the most fabled of cities in Russia’s borderlands. A preposterously rich history—yet few Westerners have navigated this beguiling entrepot as ably as Charles King.”

—Andrew Meier, author of
Black Earth:
A Journey Through Russia After the Fall

“This is a beautiful, lyrical history of a city that didn’t just give birth to people of genius but embodied that genius in its streets, theaters, and public markets. . . . Charles King’s research is impeccable and his writing style is pure joy. This is a book to savor.”

—Ilya Kaminsky, author of
Dancing in Odessa

“[A] mesmerizing history. . . . A rich tapestry of romance, tragedy, and resilience,
Odessa
captures every nuance of the Black Sea’s legendary city, providing a rich meditation of the ever-present challenges in a multicultural cosmopolis.”

—Dorri Olds,
New York Resident

“Charles King has written a crisp, reliable account of the town culled from a wide range of sources, most impressively from archival material on Odessa’s wartime experiences under the Romanians. . . . Something of a blend between a general history and a guided tour with often quite splendid descriptions.”

—Steven J. Zipperstein,
New Republic

“A well-written chronicle of a city unfamiliar to most in the West, and serves as both a tribute and lament.”

—Jay Freeman,
Booklist

“A marvelous book of epic courage, admirable erudition, and astute separation between myth and what really happened. Odessa’s ability to laugh at itself and its decided skepticism about the grand narratives of history are among the important reasons to enjoy reading, under King’s delicate and vibrant guidance, about its fate.”

—Peter Demetz, author of
Prague in Black and Gold

“Charles King cuts through myth and nostalgia to deliver a startling, raw look at a city that for more than 200 years has struggled for greatness amid a torrent of despair. . . . Eloquent and engaging.”

—Michael Schwirtz,
Moment
magazine

“[A] sterling introduction to one of the most interesting of Europe’s lesser-known cities. . . . King . . . is an able storyteller and delivers this century-spanning tale with a lightness of touch that would make Odessa’s fabled raconteurs proud.”

—Drew Bratcher,
Washingtonian
magazine

“[A] superb new study. . . . King has done a great service.”

—Allan Nadler,
Jewish Ideas Daily

“King . . . ably glides through Odessa’s history, geography and geopolitics. . . . A sharp, graceful account of a fascinating place.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“Wonderfully written and thoroughly researched, Charles King’s
Odessa
is a history of the city presented through the lives of its people. Their dramatic and sometimes tragic stories are told with the kind of optimism that characterized the spirit of the ‘city of dreams’ for generations.”—Serhii Plokhii, Mykhailo Hrushevsky

Professor of Ukrainian History, Harvard University

Copyright © 2011 by Charles King

All rights reserved

First published as a Norton paperback 2012

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Book design by Helene Berinsky

Production manager: Julia Druskin

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

King, Charles, 1967–

Odessa : genius and death in a city of dreams / Charles King. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-393-07084-2

1. Odesa (Ukraine)—History. 2. Odesa (Ukraine)—Social conditions.
3. Odesa (Ukraine)—Biography. 4. Jews—Ukraine—Odesa—History.
5. Social change—Ukraine—Odesa—History. 6. Cultural pluralism—Ukraine—
Odesa—History. 7. Cosmopolitanism—Ukraine—Odesa—History. 8. Genius—
Social aspects—Ukraine—Odesa—History. 9. Cruelty—Social aspects—Ukraine—
Odesa—History. 10. Death—Social aspects—Ukraine—Odesa—History. I. Title.

DK508.95.O33K5 2011

947.7'2—dc22

2010038000

ISBN 978-0-393-34236-9 pbk.

eISBN 978-0-393-08052-0

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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