The life of Latvian emigrants abroad is a new phenomenon of contemporary prose, characterized by the observation of everyday life in the environment of migrant workers – it has already been realized in contemporary prose by authors such as Vilis Lācītis and others. Baiba Zīle’s collection of documentary stories offers a slightly different perspective on emigration – thoughts dressed in the form of fun short stories about the “white-collar” view of culture shock and adaptation to a stranger. Nowadays, when the concepts of integration and multiculturalism are gaining more and more importance, it is important to look at this fifteen-year-long (approximately since the beginning of the mass emigration of Latvians) emigration literature from all sides. Writer Lawrence Darel has said that travel is the form of self-analysis that gives us the most reward. The author offers to look at life abroad with a humorous self-analysis, where philosophical questions alternate with apt observations about everyday life and human nature. Does it vary from country to country? Does the observer’s own perception change while on a constant journey?
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The light, witty tone of the book is complemented by illustrations in the style of the artist Rupucinsky’s cartoon.
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