Zoo Station

i lived in west berlin 1983-1984 and find walker's books one of the best ever written on 80s berlin--at least the 80s berlin i knew, schöneberg, kreuzberg, the music scene, the squats. a must-read for any current berliner who has any interest in music, arts, history and politics. as for the "execable" review below, it is journalism -- no pretenses to fine art. comparisons to beat writers are absurd. i don't know what part or social sector of berlin that reviewer lived in, but he clearly missed the best stuff as seen in the book "zoo station." walker never wrote the book on Nicaragua as he sadly died in the early 90s. Ian Walker August 13, 1952 - December 8, 1990 RIP!

"Zoo Station" is important as a document of the young Left in the West in the 1980s, during a time when the United States was funding vicious wars in Central America and the Soviet Union was preparing to collapse. Since the Berlin Wall has fallen , few people have had much good to say about the governments of the former Eastern Bloc countries, and the media treats the continued existance of a strong communist movement in Eastern Germany as an anachronism. Having read "Zoo Station", I was able to understand why some people regarded East Germany as a pinnacle of socialist achievement, much more preferable to its capitalist twin in the West. It is good travel writing, and is both politically and culturally astute.Walker's life among the Turkish residents of Kreuzberg in Berlin also has helped me understand the predicament of guestworkers in Germany, the country with the highest percentage of resident "foreigners" in Europe.More than anything, "Zoo Station" highlights Walker's skill as a journalist, and it's a shame he never did publish that book on Nicaragua like he said he would.

Just read while visitng Berlin in 1997. Good historical background of divided city. I enjoyed his perspective of questioning both societies' institutions (he was in his 20's & lived with many other young people who partied & lived a hedonistic poor life in West Berlin.) Excellent background for a 1st time visitor to Berlin. I'd like to find more of author's writing but unable to.