Book excerpt: ‘I don’t regret anything, really. I never wanted to live a sensible life … I didn’t want a sensible death either.’ War-torn Africa, a Middle East in crisis, and post-Soviet Eastern Europe form the backdrop to the stories told in The Devil Is a Black Dog — stories based on the extraordinary experiences of acclaimed photojournalist Sándor Jászberényi. From Cairo to the Gaza Strip, from Benghazi to Budapest, his characters contemplate the meaning of home, love, family, and friendship in the face of brutality. Immersed in the societies he reports on and heedless in the face of war and revolution, Jászberényi observes mothers, martyrs, soldiers, and lovers who must confront the extremes of contemporary experience. In spare, evocative prose, he combines fact and fiction to create a profoundly true portrait of the humanity behind the headlines. PRAISE FOR SÁNDOR JÁSZBERÉNYI ‘Unforgettable … an indispensable volume that helps us to remember and regard some of the greatest ruptures of our time.’ The Sydney Morning Herald ‘Extraordinary … Searingly truthful.’ The Independent