Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #291751 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

From The New Yorker
The Republic of Molvanîa, known as the birthplace of whooping cough and the Molvanîan Sneezing Hound, has been largely ignored by the backpacking set in its sweep through post-Communist Europe. This may have something to do with the country's miserable landscape, miserable weather, miserable food, and miserable, surly populace; on the other hand, it may have something to do with the fact that Molvanîa doesn't exist. In format and page layout, this inspired send-up of a travel guide looks exactly like the real thing, and it displays an acute feel for all the clichés of the genre, including testimonials that instruct how to have an uncomfortable "authentic" experience, rather than a "bland, westernized" one. The nation's new national anthem is set to the tune of "What a Feeling," from the movie "Flashdance" useful phrases include the Molvanîan for "Please," "Thank you," "May God send you a sturdy donkey," and "What is that smell?"
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Funny, but...
Funny, it is. This is good light reading. You can put it down easily and pick it again later. However, this is pretty much the same joke, over and over. It gets tiring after a short while.

A Fake Travel Guide For Eastern Europe -- Hilarious
Molvania is one of series of fake travel guides. This one focusing on the fictitious Eastern European country of Molvania.

In "the land untouched by modern dentistry" you can figure out what hotel to stay at, the wonderous historical sites, and the restauarnts and public transports. In the style of Fodors guide, it attempts to even make this disaster of a country sound wonderful.

It is a bit of a one-joke book and a hair repetitive, but the detail in book is really amazing and gives it the perfect feel.

To the few people who were "offended" by the book and considered it discriminatory, I think "what part of parody don't you understand?" comes into play. If you're so tight you won't get the joke, by all means leave this on the shelf. Otherwise, you'll enjoy the detail and depth of the planning of your Molvanian trip.

Best of Eastern Europe
A must for all who have experienced in Eastern Europe in the nineties. A sort of mix of experiences from CZ, Poland and the likes. You wonder wether the authors were not sitting at the next door table at Radost.