Description

Vasile Ernu’s Generaţia canibală follows young people as Soviet rule ends. They seek their way in the world that comes next. In the 1990s, communist states fall and the USSR breaks apart. Some young people from Bessarabia go to Romania to study. Others stay in the new Republic of Moldova. Still others cross borders in secret to seek lives in the West. They face these choices with hope and a hunger for life.

Those who study in Romania find that shared speech is not enough. The two groups use words in different ways. Their customs and daily habits differ too. New freedoms and goods to buy change what people want from life. Coca-Cola stands for the pull of this new world. What people own starts to count more than who they are.

Ernu’s account of growing up shows the costs of this change. Prices rise, jobs vanish, and firms make fewer goods. Trade takes the place of making things. People have hope and freedom, but face a harsh fight for gain. These forces shape the age group named in the title.

The book is a memoir and a work of life writing. This edition has pictures and forms part of the Ego-Grafii series.