<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->

"Garth Cartwrightis a modern-day Don Quixote...Like a conjurer, Cartwright's prose brings the songs to life. He describes the tragic Gypsy ghettos, the engulfing poverty and racism, drugs and petty crimes...And yet in the end, this book is a grand celebration of life and music."-Vintage Guitar Magazine

Garth Cartwrightfuses travel and music writing as he travels through the Balkans, heading to Gypsy settlements that are not just off the beaten track but literally off the map. On his wild journey, Cartwright wanders through the ruins of post-Communist Serbia and observes Roma refugees from the Kosovo conflict. He attends a Gypsy wedding in Macedonia, almost marries a Gypsy princess in Kocani, and witnesses the fiery celebrations that mark Ederlezi, the Night of the Gypsies, in an impoverished Bulgarian Gypsy ghetto. Weaving historical fact, mythic tales, and contemporary voices, this is a wonderfully compelling journey into uncharted territory, both social and musical.

Garth Cartwrightwas born in New Zealand. In 1986 he moved to London, where he now lives and works as a music journalist.

Garth Cartwright fuses travel and music writing as he travels through the Balkans, heading to Gypsy settlements that are not just off the beaten track but literally off the map. On his wild journey, Cartwright wanders through the ruins of post-Communist Serbia and observes Roma refugees from the Kosovo conflict. He attends a Gypsy wedding in Macedonia, almost marries a Gypsy princess in Kocani, and witnesses the fiery celebrations that mark Ederlezi, the Night of the Gypsies, in an impoverished Bulgarian Gypsy ghetto. Weaving historical fact, mythic tales, and contemporary voices, this is a wonderfully compelling journey into uncharted territory, both social and musical.

Garth Cartwrightwas born in New Zealand. In 1986 he moved to London, where he now lives and works as a music journalist.

Garth Cartwright was born in Palookaville, New Zealand. He left school at 16, tried his hand at singing in punk bands, promoting concerts and even boxing, before turning to writing full time. In 1995 he won the Guardian Music Writing Award. He has written for the Guardian, Telegraph, Independent On Sunday, The Times, and Folk Roots.