The first nonfiction book-searing, revealing, unforgettable-from one of our most acclaimed writers.
The first nonfiction book - a searing, revealing, unforgettable memoir - from one of our most acclaimed writers.
From the author of The World and All That It Holds, Aleksandar Hemon's The Book of My Lives is an unforgettable memoir of a life forever marked by international conflict.
Aleksandar Hemon grew up in a blissful Sarajevo, where his childhood was consumed by football, his adolescence by friends, movies and girls and where, as a young man, he poked at the pretensions of his beloved city with American music, bad poetry, and slightly better journalism.
And then, at twenty-seven, Hemon flew to Chicago for a month-long visit. A matter of weeks later Sarajevo was engulfed in an atrocious war. Hemon found himself an exile. He wouldn't return home for five years and, when he did, he found his city irrevocably changed.
'If you've never read Aleksandar Hemon, prepare to have your worldview deepened' - Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Aleksandar Hemon is, quite frankly, the greatest writer of our generation. His literature is deep, agile, funny, graceful, searing, angry, raw, questioning. It is of present and eternal use . . . This is a book - like all of Aleksandar Hemon's books - that is an aria for our times. I will cherish it. Colum McCann, author of
Let the Great World Spin
Aleksandar Hemon was born in Sarajevo and lives in Chicago. He is the author of
The Question of Bruno, Nowhere Man, Love and Obstacles, and
The Lazarus Project, which was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His work also appears regularly in the
New Yorker and
Granta, among other publications.
Über den Autor
Aleksandar Hemon is the author of the prize-winning The Lazarus Project, as well as Nowhere Man and The Question of Bruno. Born in Sarajevo, Hemon has lived in Chicago since 1992, and wrote his first story in English in 1995. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and a 'genius grant' from the MacArthur foundation in 2004.
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UPDATED EDITION
Including a new chapter
'Spacious and full-hearted . . . Confessional yet honourably restrained . . . unforgettable.' Independent
Aleksandar Hemon grew up in a blissful Sarajevo, where his childhood was consumed by football, his adolescence by friends, movies and girls and where, as a young man, he poked at the pretensions of his beloved city with American music, bad poetry, and slightly better journalism.
And then at 27 Hemon flew to Chicago for a month-long visit. A matter of weeks later Sarajevo was engulfed in an atrocious war and Hemon found himself an exile - he wouldn't return home for five years, and when he did, he found his city irrevocably changed.
'It is, without doubt, the most necessary, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of a world lost to one of history's darkest conflicts.' Téa Obreht, author of The Tiger's Wife
'The Book of My Lives is written with the full force of humanity. It will make you think, laugh, cry, and remember yourself . . . prepare to have your worldview deepened.' Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The first nonfiction book—searing, revealing, unforgettable—from one of our most acclaimed writers.
