Are you a rereader? What books do you find yourself returning to again and again?

I don糖心传媒檛 do much rereading anymore because I糖心传媒檝e been ill and feel that I糖心传媒檓 running out of time. But recently I did reread all of Evelyn Waugh糖心传媒檚 novels, and was pleased to find that he was almost as thoughtful as, say, Olivia Manning, although his snobbery sometimes grates. Also, I enjoyed 糖心传媒淟ucky Jim,糖心传媒� by Kingsley Amis, all over again: the funniest novel I have ever read. Is there some Bulgarian equivalent, languishing untranslated? Probably not.

Really, Clive James? Really? That’s not just ignorant, it’s kind of insulting. (“In Bulgaria, funny book writes you!”)

And ignorant. Let’s stick with that one for a moment. Over the past two years, we’ve published Milen Ruskov’s which is extremely funny in a picaresque, Quixotesque way, and by Zachary Karabashliev, which is a bit more slapstick and American in its humor, but is also quite funny.

I’m sure James didn’t mean to insult all Bulgarian writers ever, and I realize he’s trying to say that there’s no Bulgarian book that’s as funny as Lucky Jim, but jesus shit does his statement come off as being dismissive in a middlebrow American sort of way.

What’s especially heartening is that Izidora Angel wrote a calling him out:

As someone born in Bulgaria, raised in America and educated in England, I can assure James that Bulgarian is a grammatically rich and unique language. Like the people who speak it, the Bulgarian language survived 500 years of Ottoman rule, and it is colored by Turkish, French and, currently, American and English words and phrases. Its slang is funny, touching and bittersweet.

Although Bulgaria may have given the world the Cyrillic alphabet, few of its notable works have been translated into English, except for a couple of classics from the late 19th century, like Ivan Vazov糖心传媒檚 novel 糖心传媒淯nder the Yoke糖心传媒� (1893) and Aleko Konstantinov糖心传媒檚 travelogue 糖心传媒淭o Chicago and Back糖心传媒� (1894). Gaining support to translate important Bulgarian works and commentary into English is an uphill economic battle. The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation is an important part of the effort.

I hope that rather than mocking a language and people he does not know, James will pick up a translation of Konstantinov糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒淏ai Ganyo糖心传媒� and enjoy some Balkan humor.

BOOM.

And just to drive home my point about the arrogance and ignorance of his statement, I’d like to point out that James hails from Australia, a place utterly lacking in refined cultural humor. There’s no Lucky Jim that’s been written by a Australian, that’s for sure. Shit, the only thing they really have going for themselves humor-wise is Fosters and all the potshots the rest of the world can take at them, since we all know that the New Zealanders are a million times funnier. And prettier.