Farewell, Cowboy

'Farewell Cowboy' is a modern and hard-hitting novel by one of Croatia's best known writers. The plot consists of a straight-forward linear narrative, rich in local colour and sentiment. It tells the story of Dada, who returns to her home town on the Adriatic coast, and tries to unravel the mystery of her brother Daniel's death. Daniel, although young, smart and popular, threw himself under a train in mysterious circumstances. In search for clues, Dada meets an array of eccentric characters and passionately falls in love with the young gigolo Andjelo, who is a part of a film crew shooting a Western on the nearby prairie. Slowly and painfully she discovers all there is to know about her brother's death, and how she was betrayed by someone close to her. In her debut novel, Savicevic playfully transposes the genre of a Western into the contemporary world, challenging the omnipotent heroes of childhood and questioning what a hero is today. Her Adriatic hometown is a hellish city and the social reality of today's Croatia is portrayed as harsh and corrupt.

The fact that a Western adventure is being filmed nearby gives the book its title and adds to the mood; redolent of transient glamour and unrealized small-town dreams.

Olja Savičević is one of the best Croatian contemporary authors and a representative of the so-called 'lost generation'. Politically and socially engaged, Olja's work has been included in a number of Croatian anthologies and international selections. Her writing has been translated into over fifteen languages.