In his essays, Uroš Zupan, with the calm step of a unique and lonely walker, leads us to thinking about books and, above all, about reading. Almost unwittingly, since this splendid poet and essayist is really just sharing his thoughts, we start to follow his reading passions and paths. With refined and measured gestures, he depicts those masters of words: Tomaž Šalamun, Aleš Debeljak, Švabić, and shares anecdotes, while in the background echo the poems that marked the decades of the past. Zupan again proves that he knows how to reveal the soft glow of the past and subtly listen to life, be it life that is realistic and real, or that between book covers.
“Uroš Zupan knows that readers like literary fragments that enable them to identify with what is written. This is how he reads books. The reader of the The Archaeology of the Present soon becomes aware that, even if from a completely different generation he, too, had strayed into the archaeology of his reading and thinking. In many places in these essays, we see our own reading dilemmas, our books, our poems and our weariness with the fast pace of art, cities and society.” Nina Prešern, Slovene literary blogger
“Zupan knows how to step into the artistc world of a person he writes about, into his way of thinking and his writing technique, to focus on the good and bad points of his work. The warm essence of his writing keeps the reader of the essays alert so that he follows the writer between Azra and Peyton Place, Bukowski and Kovačič, to the last page. Since he not only enthusiastically consumes art, but also creates it, his discussions have a special lyrical mark.” Barbara Leban for Radio Slovenia 3 – Ars
