Gypsies by Jan Yoors (1987, Paperback)

Jan Yoors’, a Belgian born into a well-to-do but incredibly open-minded family, essentially ran away from home at the age of twelve to live with a band of gypsies on-and-off for about six years. Yoors’ account of the extended gypsy family he lived with and about gypsy culture and thought in general is outstanding. Clearly sympathetic to these misunderstood and constantly persecuted group of people, Yoors’ mixes in his personal accounts with broader discussions deftly. The entire narrative is real, identifiable, and doesn’t come across as condescending (towards the the gypsies or the “gadjes.”) I also thought that he did a very human and lucid job of expressing the fears, the defense mechanisms, and the self-preservative and protective instincts of the gypsies (which are often misunderstood and have led to much of the slanderous beliefs about them.)