Rates of Exchange and Why Come to Slaka?

The late Malcomb Bradbury was at the top of his game when he wrote this mordantly funny satire of cultural exchanges during the Cold War. His hero, Petworth, is a bland Everyman of a British academic with two weeks to spend behind the Iron Curtain. Bradbury's trademark wordplay, his brillant observations on socialist hypocrisy, and his heartbreaking insights into the foibles of human nature, make this a deeply rewarding novel. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.