Skopje, 4 December 2024 (MIA) - Macedonian writer Rumena Buzharovska will promote her debut novel “Toni”, published by the TRI Publishing Center, at an event Wednesday with writer Petar Andonovski and the poetess and main editor of Meduza, Kalia Dimitrova.

“’Toni’ is a novel about masculinity, about the city and about tradition. Brutally comical, but also deeply tragic, it can be read in one breath. This is a novel that will slam you to the ground and push you to reexamine the social, romantic and familial relations in our everyday life,” organizers said in a press release about the event.

TRI Publishing Center described the novel as brutally comical and deeply tragic, noting that reality is always more shocking than fiction.

“Toni is a middle-aged former rocker from Skopje who lives with his mother and works in a state institution. During the pandemic, unintentionally, but through his fault, he causes several events that forever change his life and the lives of those around him. Putting himself first, Toni unwaveringly clings to his illusory definition of personal freedom. Toni sinks, pulled down by the burden of his casual attitude towards life, the lack of personal integrity and living on past glory, which is also put into question,” the publisher said in its description of the novel.

Publisher TRI said the novel is written in a lively, sharp and contemporary language, in the recognizable bitter yet witty style of Buzharovska, who has attained great popularity with her short stories and the book of essays “Next to God, America”.