even post-colonial African storytellers, and one cannot help compare its blend of surreal situations and political drama based on real events to South American novels, although Kadare apparently dislikes the label "magical realism" applied to his novels. It is not hard to imagine why: as some South American novelists have said, he too could say that the world he describes is not "surreal" or "magical-realist"; it is simply the real, pre-modern world of the Balkans, albeit a world which is universalized through esthetic transfiguration. Political context and translation Chronicle in Stone was published in Albania during the years of Enver Hoxha, who came to power with the Communist Party after World War II, and stayed there until his death in the mid-eighties. In this context, we can speculate on the reasons for the episodic appearance toward the end of the novel of a character described by the Italian garrison commander as "the dangerous Communist Enver Hoxha." Since the dictator, like Kadare himself, came from the city of Gjirokaster (which with its steep hillsides and stone streets resembles the city of the book), this aspect of the protagonist's experience is probably authentic. However, government control of the Albanian publishing industry during the Hoxha regime may have provided an incentive for the dictator's inclusion, beyond narrative necessity. Translated by Arshi Pipa, an Albanian émigré who lived in the United States, the book was initially published in English without the translator's name. Pipa had entered into a conflict with the publisher and/or with the author, and demanded to have his name taken off the translation. Pipa claimed that the several references to homosexuals, and homosexual activity throughout the novel (such as the bisexual Argjir Argjiri and the "woman with a beard," which Pipa takes to mean lesbian) were intended to raise the question of Enver Hoxha's own sexuality, a dangerous claim at the time. The current edition was translated by David Bellos. He was chosen by Kadare, as he had received a Booker Prize for translation work. Reception “A triumph . . . A beguiling conjunction of realism and fantasy.” —The New York Times Book Review “No mere curiosity but a thoroughly enchanting novel–sophisticated and accomplished in its poetic prose and narrative deftness, yet drawing resonance from its roots in one of Europe’s most primitive societies.” —John Updike, The New Yorker References 1971 Albanian novels Novels by Ismail Kadare Novels set in Albania