Upon reading this book, I found many of my preconceived notions about what it means to be a memoir (which I know this was not in the strictest sense, but in many ways it read in that narrative style, which quite piqued my interest), a work of contemporary fiction in general to be in shambles...in a rather enjoyable way. The stories contained within kept me guessing at every turn, playing with form, narrative style, and slightly surreal imagery in very unique and clever ways.

The world Ifland presents is both foreign and familiar. The Eastern Europe of which Ifland writes is not a place that I, myself, have ever known and yet I feel as though I am right there while reading it. "Elegy for a Fabulous World" combines folklore and a child's world view with realism and the cynical attitudes of an adult. The juxtaposition between the surreal and the completely real place the reader at a crossroads where they find themselves fully absorbed within the tale Ifland has woven for them. I am reminded of writers such as Flannery O'Connor and yet "Elegy" has an quality all it's own. This book is everything contemporary "gothic" literature (though I am deeply hesitant to put this book into any one genre) should be. ( )