Almantas Samalavicius provides an overview of Lithuania‘s literary scene which, twenty years after independence, is marginalised but not devoid of strong voices. Herkus Kuncius for example. His book “‘Pijoko chrestomatija’ (Anthology of a drunkard, 2009) is a witty, subtle, sometimes sarcastic novel; the rupturing episodes of its postmodern plot are held together by its characters’ lust for alcohol. The protagonist, a young post-Soviet conceptual artist, travels through Europe, spending his time in artistic communities whose members share his interest in heavy drinking. Combining the main plot with anecdotal stories of the Soviet and pre-Soviet era, the author reconsiders the peculiarities of drinking culture during the communist regime, comparing it with the habits of contemporary artists in the East and West. The parallels reveal absurdities: back then, people drank out of hopelessness, lack of meaning, or simply as a social habit under communism; today’s artistic bohemians drink to drown a new spiritual emptiness, a lack of a meaning in their artistic activities.”

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