The Devil Is a Black Dog: stories from the Middle East and beyond - Softcover

'A Hungarian war correspondent pays tribute to Hemingway with tales of bare-knuckle brutality ... The stereotypical war correspondent is a troubled macho figure struggling with inner demons, who has frequent recourse to booze, prostitutes or drugs, and who can only function under fire. Jaszberenyi pushes this formula to new extremes ... [He] captures the darkness perfectly.' -- Tibor Fischer The Guardian '[Jaszberenyi] is brutally frank in his stories of how the civil strife-wracked Africa and Middle East have not only demeaned the value of life and death but also killed the sensitivity of reporters and photographers to these horrors even while they seek to provoke the moral outrage of the outside world.' -- David Ottaway, former Washington Post correspondent in Africa and the Middle East 'These stories sound more like Philip Caputo or Tim O'Brien than a postmodern accounting of current events ... This is heady, dizzying writing ... A master class in how to tell a war story.' Kirkus Review (starred) 'Impressive ... standout tales ... demonstrate the range of Jaszberenyi's storytelling talents.' Publisher's Weekly 'Unforgettable ... an indispensable volume that helps us to remember and regard some of the greatest ruptures of our time.' -- Kevin Rabalais Sydney Morning Herald 'With this book Sandor Jaszberenyi joins the top ranks of short story writers today.' Elet es Irodalom 'This is one of the most honest books I have ever read. The author forgoes the journalistic altruism and moral obligation that books on reporting in crisis regions typically, disingenuously emphasize. Instead, The Devil Is a Black Dog is a truly authentic dive into the psyche, spirituality, and frailty of mankind. Jaszberenyi' deftly portrays all that through the lenses of both situations accessible to Western readers and exotic circumstances in a region regarded as violent and rife with hardship.' -- Brian Dabbs, former editor of the Egypt Independent, former contributor to the New York Times and Al-Jazeera 'Fiercely precise, tight and violent - Jaszberenyi's book is beautifully constructed, tough and exciting prose.' -- Gyorgy Dragoman, author of The White King 'Jaszberenyi not just writes, but tells. Let me be a bit pathetic instead of him: he shows his heart. He would never call that particular organ a heart, that would be way too sentimental for him; instead he says: look at this fistful of bloody meat - that's me.' Nepszabadsag 'Each tale is a rich, poetic slice of life from places you might never go - such as Egypt and Chad ... The stories all describe experiences alien to Westerners and skilfully explore material about which readers are curious: two guys bullshitting at their jobs, which happen to be verifying the numbers of massacred civilians; a dude living with townspeople who fear a wild dog that has enjoyed human blood ... Mr. J[aszberenyi] is a gifted writer, this book is to be savored and relished.' Library Journal "Absorbing ... Blending reportage with literary technique, The Devil is a Black Dog aims to get at the truth of war and its atrocities through fiction. This captivating debut achieves its aim as it bears witness to the machine of war, dehumanising civilisations across continents.' -- Sarah Gilmartin Irish Times 'Extraordinary ... Searingly truthful.' The Independent 'Through his alter ego, Daniel Marosh, [Jaszberenyi] examines the effect war has on those caught up in it ... Humankind at its worst is on display in these magnetically compelling stories, but so is the struggle to remain human in the face of it all.' -- Alastair Mabbott The Herald The Devil is a Black Dog is an extraordinary book [which] blends and slides between genres: reportage, memoir and semi-autobiographical fiction ... Jaszberenyi's proze is visceral, his writing a testament to mankind's endless capacity for killing and destruction. But he is a skilled enough reporter not to overload the reader ... Among the blood and tear gas, there is always hope.' -- Adam Lebor TLS

'I don't regret anything, really. I never wanted to live a sensible life ...I didn't want a sensible death either.' War-torn Africa, a Middle East in crisis, and post-Soviet Eastern Europe form the backdrop to the stories told in The Devil Is a Black Dog - stories based on the extraordinary experiences of acclaimed photojournalist Sandor Jaszberenyi. From Cairo to the Gaza Strip, from Benghazi to Budapest, his characters contemplate the meaning of home, love, family, and friendship in the face of brutality. Immersed in the societies he reports on and heedless in the face of war and revolution, Jaszberenyi observes mothers, martyrs, soldiers, and lovers who must confront the extremes of contemporary experience. In spare, evocative prose, he combines fact and fiction to create a profoundly true portrait of the humanity behind the headlines.