5Ronald Lee's autobiographical novel, formerly published as "Goddam Gypsy," is an intense, fast moving, and brutally honest affair. Yanko--a Canadian Rom who 'took the non-Romani way but didn't go far'--seeks his fortunes both among and apart from the Roma, never quite finding his place. His story exposes the out of sight, out of mind world of Canada's Roma in 1970's Montreal: Parties, rackets, bar brawls, weddings, desperate poverty, and intermittent police raids fuel in Yanko the passion, creativity, and rebellious defiance that is The Living Fire.