Baba Yaga Laid an Egg (Myths) - Tapa dura

She is a writer to follow. A writer to be cherished. -- Susan Sontag Ugresic has a unique tone of voice, a madcap wit and a lovely sense of the absurd. Ingenious. -- Marina Warner Praise for THE MINISTRY OF PAIN: Ugresic is sharp, funny and unfazed in the face of the little dictators who have torn apart her former country. Orwell would be proud. -- Timothy Garton-Ash Praise for THE MINISTRY OF PAIN: Contains some of the most profound reflections on culture, memory and madness you wiill ever read. -- Carole Angier * * Independent * * The message that old crones are the product of "long-lived, labyrinthine, fertile, profoundly misogynistic but also cathartic work of the imagination" is expressed with humour, eloquence and anger. -- Alyssa McDonald * * New Statesman * * Ugresic's retelling may be blisteringly postmodern in its execution but at its heart is a human warmth and even a silliness that infuses it with the sweet magic of storytelling. -- Melissa Katsoulis * * The Times * * A book packed with intellectual surprises and emotional revelations. * * Metro * * Reaffirms the glorious power of storytelling. * * Metro * * A mirthlessly witty divertimento on female old age. Ugresic's meta-narrative sings with intelligence; it cryptic weirdness challenges the reader . . . These stories are a whirligig of outrageous invention. -- Steve Davies * * Independent * * Astutely analytical of Balkan dystopia, beautifully written (and immaculately translated), dolefully humorous . . . Although this is the tale of three old Balkan Babushkas behaving badly, it is a grown-up novel with grown-up propositions; its humane vision of the world is driven by great imaginative impetus. -- Naomi Price * * Times Literary Supplement * * The tradition of upside down, modernist myth making or ironical fable has freed her tongue. Skittish at times, affectionately comic, and lavish with improbable and ingenious fairy tale plotting, her handling of the genre is deft and light. -- Marina Winter * * London Review of Books * *

Baba Yaga is a witch-like character who flies around on a giant mortar, kidnapping (and presumably eating) small children. She lives in a house on chicken feet. She is generally a terrifying figure, portrayed not only in literature but also film, animation and music throughout Russian culture. Dubravka Ugresic takes the story of Baba Yaga and weaves it into something completely fresh. The result is an extraordinary meditation on femininity, ageing, identity, secrets, storytelling and love.