Diary of a Blood Donor - Eastern European Literature by Mati Unt Paperback

Book Synopsis

In this contemporary retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Estonian writer Mati Unt offers a playful yet unsettling mixture of fact and fiction, combining pieces of Estonian political history--in particular the figure of Lydia Koidula (1843-1886), widely regarded as the first Estonian woman to express an Estonian longing for independence--with portraits of life in contemporary Estonia, all set against a backdrop of vampirism and the Gothic novel.

Review Quotes

a disturbing and comic tale of obsession, politics and the vagaries of literature.' -Sam Munson, New York Post

"[Unt was] one of the most influential modernist, and latterly postmodernist, authors in Estonia." -- Eric Dickens

"Mati Unt was one of Estonia's most influential writers.... [He] had a splendid detachment and a rampant imagination." -- Kate Saunders

"There are people ... whose role in their domestic culture is nothing less than unique, which makes it difficult to draw any parallels when trying to introduce them. In Estonia, Mati Unt belongs among such people. He is simultaneously a first-class writer, theatre director, critic and columnist, scenographer and ideologue.... Unt's unique role in Estonia has been that of the 'conveyer of ideas.'" -- Mihkel Mutt

About the Author

Mati Unt was an Estonian writer, essayist and theatre director. Unt's first novel, written at the age of 18 after having finished high school, was H?vasti, kollane kass. This made him famous all over Estonia.