Aleksandar Hemon Books

An epic, continent-spanning story of a world in convulsion, of millions broken between war, displacement and revolution, and of human bonds so strong that they stretch from Sarajevo to Shanghai without snapping, and encompass all.

"Aleksandar Hemon's lives begin in Sarajevo, a small, blissful city where a young boy's life is consumed with street soccer with his casually multi-ethnic group of friends, resentment of his younger sister, and occasional trips abroad with his engineer-cum-beekeeper father, and a young man's life is about poking at the pretensions of the city's elders with American music, bad poetry, and slightly better journalism. And then there is Chicago -- war breaking out at home and the city fully under siege, the Hemon family fleeing Sarajevo (with their dog) and all they had ever known, applying for asylum, and Hemon himself starting his own family in this new city. And yet this is not really a memoir. Like Hemon's fiction, The Book of My Lives defies convention and expectation. It is a love-song to two different cities; it is a heartbreaking paean to the bonds of family; it is a stirring exhortation to go out and play soccer -- and not for the exercise. It is a book driven by passions but built on fierce intelligence, devastating experience, and sharp insight. And like the best narratives, it is a book that will leave you a different reader -- a different person, with a new way of looking at the world. For fans of Hemon's fiction, The Book of My Lives is simply indispensable; for the uninitiated, it is the perfect introduction to one of the great writers of our time."--Publisher's description.

Set against the backdrop of Sarajevo, the narrative follows a young boy navigating his childhood through street soccer with a diverse group of friends, grappling with sibling rivalry, and sharing experiences with his father, who balances engineering with beekeeping. This poignant nonfiction work captures the complexities of youth, identity, and familial relationships in a city marked by its rich cultural tapestry. The author's acclaimed storytelling brings to life the unforgettable moments that shape the boy's world.

A combined book of two magnificent works by Aleksandar Hemon, presented together in a reversible single edition: the story of his parents' emigration from Sarajevo, and a book of short memories of the author's family, friends and childhood.

"A novel about an aspiring screenplay writer--full of script ideas but unable to follow through on any of them--who becomes entangled with a Bosnian woman and her violently jealous husband"--

A electrifying collection of stories from one of the most blazing talents working in English today schovat popis

The linked stories of "Love and Obstacles" center around a young man from Yugosalvia who immigrates to America. In dazzling prose, Hemon (himself an immigrant from Yugoslavia) portrays the complications, "the obstacles," of growing up in a Communist but cosmopolitan country, and the disintegration of that country and the consequent uprooting and move to America in young adulthood.

Collects stories from thirty European countries by authors old and new

Jozef Pronek's life is more than a series of global adventures. He is haunted by an unseen observer, his movements chronicled by narrators with dubious motives. It culminates in a final episode that upends many of our assumptions about his identity and what it means to be a Nowhere Man.

"A novel about an aspiring screenplay writer--full of script ideas but unable to follow through on any of them--who becomes entangled with a Bosnian woman and her violently jealous husband"--