diff --git a/Cakefile b/Cakefile
index fe0d5a8..31e804a 100644
--- a/Cakefile
+++ b/Cakefile
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 fs = require 'fs'
 
 {print} = require 'sys'
-{spawn} = require 'child_process'
+{exec} = require 'child_process'
 
 build = (callback) ->
-  coffee = spawn 'coffee', ['-c', '-o', 'lib', 'src']
+  coffee = exec 'coffee -c -o lib src'
   coffee.stderr.on 'data', (data) ->
     process.stderr.write data.toString()
   coffee.stdout.on 'data', (data) ->
diff --git a/lib/header.js b/lib/header.js
index 57438e5..23637a5 100644
--- a/lib/header.js
+++ b/lib/header.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Generated by CoffeeScript 1.3.3
+// Generated by CoffeeScript 1.7.1
 (function() {
   var Header, fs,
     __bind = function(fn, me){ return function(){ return fn.apply(me, arguments); }; };
@@ -6,38 +6,36 @@
   fs = require('fs');
 
   Header = (function() {
-
     function Header(filename) {
       this.filename = filename;
       this.parseFieldSubRecord = __bind(this.parseFieldSubRecord, this);
-
       this.parseDate = __bind(this.parseDate, this);
-
       return this;
     }
 
     Header.prototype.parse = function(callback) {
-      var _this = this;
-      return fs.readFile(this.filename, function(err, buffer) {
-        var i;
-        if (err) {
-          throw err;
-        }
-        _this.type = (buffer.slice(0, 1)).toString('utf-8');
-        _this.dateUpdated = _this.parseDate(buffer.slice(1, 4));
-        _this.numberOfRecords = _this.convertBinaryToInteger(buffer.slice(4, 8));
-        _this.start = _this.convertBinaryToInteger(buffer.slice(8, 10));
-        _this.recordLength = _this.convertBinaryToInteger(buffer.slice(10, 12));
-        _this.fields = ((function() {
-          var _i, _ref, _results;
-          _results = [];
-          for (i = _i = 32, _ref = this.start - 32; _i <= _ref; i = _i += 32) {
-            _results.push(buffer.slice(i, i + 32));
+      return fs.readFile(this.filename, (function(_this) {
+        return function(err, buffer) {
+          var i;
+          if (err) {
+            throw err;
           }
-          return _results;
-        }).call(_this)).map(_this.parseFieldSubRecord);
-        return callback(_this);
-      });
+          _this.type = (buffer.slice(0, 1)).toString('utf-8');
+          _this.dateUpdated = _this.parseDate(buffer.slice(1, 4));
+          _this.numberOfRecords = _this.convertBinaryToInteger(buffer.slice(4, 8));
+          _this.start = _this.convertBinaryToInteger(buffer.slice(8, 10));
+          _this.recordLength = _this.convertBinaryToInteger(buffer.slice(10, 12));
+          _this.fields = ((function() {
+            var _i, _ref, _results;
+            _results = [];
+            for (i = _i = 32, _ref = this.start - 32; _i <= _ref; i = _i += 32) {
+              _results.push(buffer.slice(i, i + 32));
+            }
+            return _results;
+          }).call(_this)).map(_this.parseFieldSubRecord);
+          return callback(_this);
+        };
+      })(this));
     };
 
     Header.prototype.parseDate = function(buffer) {
diff --git a/lib/parser.js b/lib/parser.js
index 28edbbe..065492d 100644
--- a/lib/parser.js
+++ b/lib/parser.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-// Generated by CoffeeScript 1.3.3
+// Generated by CoffeeScript 1.7.1
 (function() {
-  var EventEmitter, Header, Parser, fs,
+  var EventEmitter, Header, Parser, fs, iconv,
     __bind = function(fn, me){ return function(){ return fn.apply(me, arguments); }; },
     __hasProp = {}.hasOwnProperty,
     __extends = function(child, parent) { for (var key in parent) { if (__hasProp.call(parent, key)) child[key] = parent[key]; } function ctor() { this.constructor = child; } ctor.prototype = parent.prototype; child.prototype = new ctor(); child.__super__ = parent.prototype; return child; };
@@ -11,55 +11,56 @@
 
   fs = require('fs');
 
-  Parser = (function(_super) {
+  iconv = require('iconv-lite');
 
+  Parser = (function(_super) {
     __extends(Parser, _super);
 
-    function Parser(filename) {
+    function Parser(filename, encoding) {
       this.filename = filename;
+      this.encoding = encoding != null ? encoding : 'utf-8';
       this.parseField = __bind(this.parseField, this);
-
       this.parseRecord = __bind(this.parseRecord, this);
-
       this.parse = __bind(this.parse, this);
-
     }
 
     Parser.prototype.parse = function() {
-      var _this = this;
       this.emit('start', this);
       this.header = new Header(this.filename);
-      this.header.parse(function(err) {
-        var sequenceNumber;
-        _this.emit('header', _this.header);
-        sequenceNumber = 0;
-        return fs.readFile(_this.filename, function(err, buffer) {
-          var loc;
-          if (err) {
-            throw err;
-          }
-          loc = _this.header.start;
-          while (loc < (_this.header.start + _this.header.numberOfRecords * _this.header.recordLength) && loc < buffer.length) {
-            _this.emit('record', _this.parseRecord(++sequenceNumber, buffer.slice(loc, loc += _this.header.recordLength)));
-          }
-          return _this.emit('end', _this);
-        });
-      });
+      this.header.parse((function(_this) {
+        return function(err) {
+          var sequenceNumber;
+          _this.emit('header', _this.header);
+          sequenceNumber = 0;
+          return fs.readFile(_this.filename, function(err, buffer) {
+            var loc;
+            if (err) {
+              throw err;
+            }
+            loc = _this.header.start;
+            while (loc < (_this.header.start + _this.header.numberOfRecords * _this.header.recordLength) && loc < buffer.length) {
+              _this.emit('record', _this.parseRecord(++sequenceNumber, buffer.slice(loc, loc += _this.header.recordLength)));
+            }
+            return _this.emit('end', _this);
+          });
+        };
+      })(this));
       return this;
     };
 
     Parser.prototype.parseRecord = function(sequenceNumber, buffer) {
-      var field, loc, record, _fn, _i, _len, _ref,
-        _this = this;
+      var field, loc, record, _fn, _i, _len, _ref;
       record = {
         '@sequenceNumber': sequenceNumber,
         '@deleted': (buffer.slice(0, 1))[0] !== 32
       };
       loc = 1;
       _ref = this.header.fields;
-      _fn = function(field) {
-        return record[field.name] = _this.parseField(field, buffer.slice(loc, loc += field.length));
-      };
+      _fn = (function(_this) {
+        return function(field) {
+          return record[field.name] = _this.parseField(field, buffer.slice(loc, loc += field.length));
+        };
+      })(this);
       for (_i = 0, _len = _ref.length; _i < _len; _i++) {
         field = _ref[_i];
         _fn(field);
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@
 
     Parser.prototype.parseField = function(field, buffer) {
       var value;
-      value = (buffer.toString('utf-8')).replace(/^\x20+|\x20+$/g, '');
+      value = (iconv.decode(buffer, this.encoding)).trim();
       if (field.type === 'N') {
         value = parseInt(value, 10);
       }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index eab1925..e84016f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "node-dbf",
-  "version": "0.1.0",
+  "version": "0.1.1",
   "description": "An efficient dBase DBF file parser written in pure JavaScript",
   "main": "./lib/parser.js",
   "repository": {
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@
   "devDependencies": {
     "coffee-script": ">=1.3.3"
   },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "iconv-lite": ">=0.2.11"
+  },
   "scripts": {
     "prepublish": "cake build"
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/parser.coffee b/src/parser.coffee
index 61ec67d..caeec70 100644
--- a/src/parser.coffee
+++ b/src/parser.coffee
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 {EventEmitter} = require 'events'
 Header = require './header'
 fs = require 'fs'
+iconv = require 'iconv-lite'
 
 class Parser extends EventEmitter
 
-    constructor: (@filename) ->
+    constructor: (@filename, @encoding = 'utf-8') ->
 
     parse: =>
         @emit 'start', @
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ class Parser extends EventEmitter
         return record
 
     parseField: (field, buffer) =>
-        value = (buffer.toString 'utf-8').replace /^\x20+|\x20+$/g, ''
+        value = (iconv.decode buffer, @encoding).trim()
 
         if field.type is 'N' then value = parseInt value, 10