Novel · Ciela · 2008

18% Gray

About the book

Literary Fiction · 90,000 words
Translated by Booker Prize-winning translator Angela Rodel

Nine days after Stella, the love of his life, leaves him, Zack crosses the border into Mexico, desperate to escape his grief. By dawn, he has witnessed a brutal assault, stolen a van loaded with marijuana, and set in motion a journey that will change his life forever.

Travelling from the Mexican border to New York with nothing but a vintage Nikon and a dangerous load in the trunk, Zack is drawn into a dark criminal underworld while rediscovering both America and himself through the lens of an old camera. As the road unfolds, so does the story of his passionate love for Stella, revealing a life shaped by exile, memory, and impossible choices.

Set between Bulgaria and the United States, 18% Gray is a literary road novel told with the suspense of a crime thriller. Darkly funny, deeply romantic, and ultimately heartbreaking, it explores love, freedom, and the search for meaning in a world where nothing is ever simply black or white.

Editions and facts

Ciela, 2008.
Published in the United States, France, Poland, Slovakia and Croatia.
English translation by Angela Rodel.
Film: 2020, dir. Victor Chuchkov, screenplay by the author.

Reviews

Zack takes off on a transcontinental journey with a new camera, rediscovering his passion and undergoing a personal revelation… Karabashliev is fast-paced, quick-witted, and filled with humor in his perspective of a Bulgarian living the drab American Dream.

Publishers Weekly

It’s hard not to read 18% Gray as a love letter to the great American novel. The great American novel as interpreted by a Bulgarian author.

Tara Olmsted, Necessary Fiction

Zachary Karabashliev’s writing is fearless, raw, and beautiful. 18% Gray makes it impossible to look away . . . not that you’d want to.

Maya Sloan, author of High Before Homeroom

Reviews in English

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