he Showman: The Inside Story That Made a War Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky

Those who support Volodymyr Zelensky will find this book too critical, and those who are against him - too complimentary. That is why this book is worth paying attention to.

Showman is actually the first - detached, as far as it is possible - attempt to describe the personality of Zelensky, who, without a doubt, played a key role in the events of 2022 and continues to play it now.

Many of those who remember how he danced on the stage of the Kryvyi Rih in leather pants, played pop heroes in a New Year's movie and built a multi-million dollar business on political satire, have never asked themselves what kind of person he was. But the answer to this question is important when a big war begins.

Showman is not just a biography of Volodymyr Zelensky. This is a book about childhood in Kryvyi Rih, the Kryvyi Rih, Russian show business, anti-Semitism and the mental abyss that separates Ukraine and Russia. This book provides some insight into how Zelensky has coexisted with the Russian narrative about Ukraine and about himself.

The Zelensky of whom Simon Schuster writes in the first half of the book probably no longer exists. Most likely, he has long since degenerated into someone who negotiates with US presidents, quarrels with European ministers, and gives orders to generals and colonels, and is responsible for thousands of lives.

Ukrainians have changed too—those who voted for him in 2019 and those who opposed him.

Those who remained in Kyiv on February 24, 2022, will feel what is called a “shared experience” as they read the chapter about the capital that spring.

Those who found themselves in besieged Mariupol will most likely feel anger. Those who fled abroad, saving children, will also fall into their memories, the hopes and aspirations of that time. The perception of the same words and sentences will differ greatly depending on what happened to you and your loved ones during the great war.

It’s always like this when you read a book about your life, written by someone else.
Someone who seems to understand your language, but after recording a few interviews, returns to their safe home, where there is always electricity.

A book about such a president and such times should provoke discussions.
That is why translated it into Ukrainian.