The Son follows one night in the life of a hero with no name, a writer whose life is falling apart. That afternoon, his wife left him, while for many years he has been in conflict with his father, who blames him for his mother's death. Incapable of finding inner calm, he leaves into the warm, Mediterranean night, in the city of Ulcinj, itself a multilayered mixture of European dimensions, African influences, and the communist past. The hero of The Son is a man who can't adapt to new times and rules. On his journey into the night, he meets an assortment of characters: a piano student from Vienna who has abandoned his musical career and converted to Islam, a radical Christian preacher and a group of refugees from Kosovo. In the style of Mihail Bulgakov, the characters meet in the old city of Ulcinj, at the Square of the Slaves - a location where the pirates who lived in the city until the 19th century would bring and sell captured slaves, including Miguel de Cervantes, according to legend.

About the Author
Nikolaidis was born in 1974 to a mixed Montenegrin-Greek family and raised in Sarajevo, Bosnia/Herzegovina. In 1992, following the breakout of ethnic strife in Bosnia that soon erupted into an all-out war, Nikolaidis' family moved to Ulcinj, his father's hometown in Montenegro, where he now owns a summer home. An ardent supporter of Montenegrin independence, anti-war activist and promoter of human rights, especially minority rights, Nikolaidis initially became known for his political views and public feuds, appearing on local television and in newspapers with his razor-sharp political commentaries. His writings for Monitor and Slobodna Bosna aroused controversy and he received threats, including death threats, after publishing several articles about "facing the past." During a talk show on Radio Antena M, one listener, while he was on air, said that he would kill Nikolaidis. He wrote columns for pro-independence Montenegrin publications such as daily newspaper Vijesti and weekly news magazine Monitor (from 2002 until 2009), as well as weekly news magazine Slobodna Bosna. He is a columnist of Delo (Ljubljana) and E-novine (Belgrade), and presently resides in Ulcinj. He also writes for the UK newspaper, The Guardian

Reviews
'The blurb of Andrej Nikolaidis' The Son describes the novella as following "one night in the life of a hero with no name". It is perhaps more accurate to describe the narrator-cum-protagonist as an antihero, at times reminiscent of Patrick Bateman with his interest in serial killers and a fixation with creating soundtracks to moments in his life. However, it is arguably this that makes the book all the more triumphant; in spite of the narrator's scathing, snobbish views on humanity, we are compelled to read them.' Debjani Biswas-Hawkes in The Literateur "...makes Samuel Beckett look positively cheery; yet the relentless pessimism has an oddly invigorating effect." Five Star Review in The Independent "Nikolaidis is a writer of great vibrancy and visual poetry. His descriptive prose is a joy to read. It begs to be read at ease, to luxuriate in the language and the choice of words." Marcus Agar, Journalist. Blogger. Copywriter. W!ildRooster


Awards
Winner of European Union Prize for Literature 2011.



Book Information
ISBN 9781908236128
Author Andrej Nikolaidis
Format Paperback
Page Count 140
Imprint Istros Books
Publisher Istros Books