Ryszard Kapuscinski: A Life

by Artur Domoslawski

Overview

The life and work of Ryszard Kapuscinski was dangerously bold and deeply enigmatic. This controversial biography opens up the secrets and contradictions of this globally renowned Polish journalist and writer.

Artur Domoslawski travels the globe, following in Kapuscinski’s footsteps, delving into his private conflicts and anxieties and discovering the relationships that were the catalyst for his unique style of ‘literary reportage’. The result is a compelling and uncompromising portrait of a conflicted and brilliant individual.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781680810
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Edition description:	Translatio
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Artur Domoslawski writes on international politics for the weekly review Polityka and for the Polish edition of Le Monde diplomatique, and for two decades reported for the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza. In 2010 he received Poland’s prestigious Journalist of the Year Award. A Knight Fellow at Stanford University in 2005–2006, he is the author of five books and is currently working on a book about contemporary Latin America.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Smile 1

1 Daguerreotypes 5

2 Pinsk: The Beginning 9

3 War 19

4 Legends 1: His Father and Katyn 31

5 Inspired by Poetry, Storming Heaven 35

6 Lapidarium 1: The Poet 43

7 On the Construction Site of Socialism 45

8 Lapidarium 2: Lance Corporal Kapuscinski 53

9 On the Construction Site of Socialism, Continued 55

10 Alicja, Maminek, Zojka 65

11 '56: Revolution All Over Again 73

12 The Third World: A Clash and a Beginning 93

13 In 'Rakowski's Gang' 103

14 Legends 2: Sentenced to Death by Firing Squad 115

15 In 'Rakowski's Gang', Continued 119

16 Life in Africa 129

17 Objects of Fascination: The African Icons 139

18 Life in Africa, Continued 145

19 In the Corridors of Power 159

20 Lapidarium 3: The Reporter as Politician 169

21 On the Trail of Che Guevara 171

22 Legends 3: Che, Lumumba, Allende 179

23 On the Trail of Che Guevara, Continued 185

24 Objects of Fascination: The Latin American Icons 193

25 On the Trial of Che Guevara, Continued Further 197

26 Zojka's Escapes 207

27 A Committed Reporter, a Black-and-White World 213

28 Christ with a Rifle in a Czech Comedy at the Emperor's Court 225

29 On Love and Other Demons 245

30 The Final Revolution, the Final Coup 255

31 Worth More Than a Thousand Grizzled Journofantasists 281

32 Lapidarium 4: Why Did Kapuscinski Have No Critics in Poland? 297

33 The Reporter Amends Reality, Or, Critics of All Nations, Unite! 303

34 Legends 4: Kapuscinski and Kapuscinski 321

35 Our Friend Rysiek 323

36 Where to from Socialism? 333

37 Lapidarium 5: Was Kapuscinski a Thinker? 347

38 Where to from Socialism? Continued 355

39 The File 367

40 Legends 5: The Price of Greatness 389

41 Maestro Kapu 391

42 Unwritten Books 399

43 No Strength to Furnish the Face 411

Notes 425

Index 443

What People are Saying About This

Zygmunt Bauman

A great book about a great man.

Editorial Reviews

A candid biography [written] in hopes of understanding both Kapuscinski’s enigmatic personality and, on a more abstract level, whether journalism is big or brave enough to include more ‘literary approaches.’

Booklist

Exhaustive and focused … substantial and interesting ... a real contribution to our understanding of Kapuscinski.

Columbia Journalism Review

Domoslawski seems fascinated by moral gray areas—Kapuscinski neglected his family, had affairs, spied for Poland’s government, and maintained his Party membership until 1981—but he always takes a lenient view.

New Yorker

Domoslawski’s book is a poignant feat of biography, not only because he trekked all over the world on Kapuscinski’s trail, but because it reopens dilemmas of integrity and conscience that are still painful for any journalist who tried to report the big world in the late twentieth century … [a] compelling, exhaustive and often upsetting book.

Neal Ascherson - London Review of Books

A great book about a great man.

Zygmunt Bauman

The first definitive biography … Sympathetic while investigative and critical.

Bookforum

A compelling and controversial biography … Mr Domoslawski was a friend of the great man; but resolved to treat his life as a subject for serious inquiry, setting out with an open mind and detailed knowledge, and adding more insights and evidence along the way. The result is an exemplary explanation of what made Kapuscinski tick.

Economist

Not just a fascinating biography of an important writer but also a subtle study of life under authoritarianism, with all the compromises and complexities that entails.

Ian Birrell - Observer

The first real biography of Kapuscinski.

Peter Englund - Financial Times

A truly great achievement.

Guardian

Domoslawski’s book is a poignant feat of biography, not only because he trekked all over the world on Kapuscinski’s trail, but because it reopens dilemmas of integrity and conscience that are still painful for any journalist who tried to report the big world in the late twentieth century … [a] compelling, exhaustive and often upsetting book.

London Review of Books - Neal Ascherson

Not just a fascinating biography of an important writer but also a subtle study of life under authoritarianism, with all the compromises and complexities that entails.

Observer - Ian Birrell

The first real biography of Kapuscinski.

Financial Times - Peter Englund

The first real biography of Kapuscinski.

Financial Times

Domoslawski’s book is a poignant feat of biography, not only because he trekked all over the world on Kapuscinski’s trail, but because it reopens dilemmas of integrity and conscience that are still painful for any journalist who tried to report the big world in the late twentieth century … [a] compelling, exhaustive and often upsetting book.— Neal Ascherson

London Review of Books

[A] compelling, exhaustive and often upsetting book... Domoslawski has written a book which is three sorts of cautionary tale: about journalism engaged or disengaged, about the political maze through which intelligent Poles made their way in the later 20th century, about the endless capacity of human beings to believe their own fictions and keep secrets from themselves.
—The London Review of Books

Neil Ascherson

Not just a fascinating biography of an important writer but also a subtle study of life under authoritarianism, with all the compromises and complexities that entails.”—Ian Birrell, Observer

“Domoslawski’s book is a poignant feat of biography, not only because he trekked all over the world on Kapuściński’s trail, but because it reopens dilemmas of integrity and conscience that are still painful for any journalist who tried to report the big world in the late 20th century ... [a] compelling, exhaustive and often upsetting book.”—Neal Ascherson, London Review of Books

“A truly great achievement.”—Agata Pyzik, Guardian

“Artur Domoslawski ... fires off questions like distress flares. He is dedicated in pursuit of evidence, crossing continents to get it, but a reluctant judge.”—Marek Kohn, Independent

“A compelling and controversial biography... Mr Domoslawski was a friend of the great man; but resolved to treat his life as a subject for serious inquiry, setting out with an open mind and detailed knowledge, and adding more insights and evidence along the way. The result is an exemplary explanation of what made Kapuscinski tick.”—Economist

“A great book about a great man.”—Zygmunt Bauman

“[A] reluctant and fascinating exposé.”—Nicholas Shakespeare, Telegraph

“The first real biography [of Kapuściński] ... reminds us that we reveal ourselves too in our evasions and confabulations and, indeed, that the distortions of reality are an important part of the image of reality.”—Peter Englund, Financial Times

“Exhaustive and focused ... substantial and interesting ... a real contribution to our understanding of Kapuściński.”—Columbia Journalism Review

“[A] fascinating, gently probing study.”—Irish Times

“Domoslawski ... leading Polish journalist and longtime disciple of Kapuściński, ultimately strives not to destroy his mentor’s reputation but to present a candid biography in hopes of understanding both Kapuściński’s enigmatic personality and, on a more abstract level, whether journalism is big or brave enough to include more ‘literary’ approaches.”—Booklist

“This comprehensive biography of the Polish foreign reporter extraordinaire is the most eagerly awaited book of the year.”—The Bookseller

“Domoslawski’s biography seems fascinated by moral gray areas—Kapuściński neglected his family, had affairs, spied for Poland’s government, and maintained his Party membership until 1981—but always takes a lenient view ... As Kapuściński once said, ‘I don’t want to stop at observation, I want to take part.’”—The New Yorker

“... A spectacular piece of literary investigation that takes us on an exploration of the meaning of journalism and tells us more about political life and choices in Poland during the communist years—and, in particular, how a leftist could maintain himself as a leftist during that time—than perhaps any book that has appeared to date.”—DISSENT

“A welcome portrait of the writer. The book exposes its subject’s many imperfections, but Mr. Domoslawski wisely does not to get carried away with them.”—Wall Street Journal

“A biography that reads like a novel.”—History Wire

“Domoslawski’s book is a mournful exposé, and ... his revelations are gently rendered.”—Nieman Reports

“[T]he story he tells us is less about this Polish reporter with a zeal for getting into dangerous places than the action he is witnessing. The story is about the people and their times, their daily life, motivations and dreams.”—Cerise Press

“An impeccable biography, one critical but also compassionate. Best of all, he situates his biographical narrative in the larger history that his subject helped to build and then tear down. Amidst ironies aplenty, the biographer remains steadfast in his determination to understand his subject—whatever the consequences.”—New Criterion

“The first definitive biography ... Sympathetic while investigative and critical.”—Bookforum

From the Publisher