--And dreams are dreams

In the first new book by Vassilis Vassilikos to be translated into English in thirty years, Greece's most acclaimed living novelist gives us a magical realist portrait of contemporary Europe and contemporary Europeans. Here are seven tales that explore the themes of materialism, post Cold War politics, love, religious faith, and the power of imagination. In the tradition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Luigi Pirandello, Vassilikos writes of the fantasies within reality, the spirit in existence, and the art within life. In the title story, the narrator edits a newspaper of dreams—a newspaper which transforms the hidden hopes and desires of his fellow countrymen into a living "dreamocracy." The "stories of taxi drivers" vividly shows these livid dreams: love is powerful enough to make a tiger change species and a woman churn out dollar bills like a slot machine. "Dona Rosita and Don Pacifico" and "three miraculous moments lived by Dona Rosita" testify to the regenerative powers of religious faith and beauty. "The transplant" unfolds three stories within one another. It is the account of a cold-hearted writer, who cannot write a love story until he understands what love is. It gives an alternative ending to the love story of Rosita and Pacifico, suggesting the random nature of narrative conclusions. Finally, it is the author's own appearance in ...And Dreams Are Dreams; he is as much part of the story as one of his characters.The New York Times Book Review said Vassilikos' Z was "shattering validity....exciting reading...Vassilikos' gifts are dazzling." Marguerite Duras called it "an admirable book and a rich one that achieves its aims to throw light on a historical moment of great significance."