Vanity Unfair (Hardback)  | Released: 06 Oct 2022

Set in Slovakia, a revealing narrative about contemporary society. An accidental pregnancy, a good-looking man who cares about no one but himself, marriage because the man "had a bit of a Christian upbringing," divorce--that is the trajectory of Pipina's life, leading to single motherhood and a thousand cruelties of everyday life because she is an ugly woman in a world where ugliness is worse than a death sentence. At every turn, she is reminded of her inferiority. She can't wait for the end of each day when she can sit in the stairwell outside of her dilapidated apartment and retreat into her thoughts. Her drab life full of indignities dissolves only in her beautiful, cinematic dreams. In them, she experiences whatever she can't do or have in real life. She creates a rich inner world, and her razor-sharp observations, interlaced with a good dose of humor, produce a revealing narrative about contemporary society. In the first English translation of her work, the brilliant Slovak author Zuzana Cignov pulls back the veil on people's most private thoughts--thoughts that could very much be our own.About the Author: Zuzana Cignov is an actress and a writer in Bratislava, Slovakia. She is the author of Little Ways Around the World; Champagne, Coffee, Beer; and Evol. Magdalena Mullek is a literary translator and scholar. She is the author of the Dedalus Book of Slovak Literature and Into the Spotlight.