So many aspects of the way the author approached this book stand out as unique, but it's her remarkably evenhanded manner that might stand out the most. Though she always offers fact-check corrections at the conclusion of interviews that need it (and many do) her openness gave her access to nearly all levels of Serbian society, from the very old rural farmer to the restaurant/club owner who became an advisor to Milosevic. In between, she speak to, eats and drinks with, and at one point sings with(!) all takers. It's an odd case where I have to believe that in many instances she'd never have gotten the same access were she a man. Whether she was perceived as less threatening, or perhaps was taken less seriously, time again she was invited into the lives of a dozen of the most disparate personalities one could ever imagine. By the end an effective and powerful tapestry is woven. Highly recommended!As an American it was strange to recognize so many similarities in the disaffected of Serbian society as one would find here, in the seemingly ever present "foreign oppressor" that many in the book blame for all their troubles. The worship of the so-called "strong leader" has obvious an corollary to our own populism, and going back a bit, especially to the American South and the "glorious Lost Cause" of the Civil War.