Sarajevo Marlboro
Read this book: at Sarajevo many died and the twenty-first century was born. These spare tales speak of all that may yet befall us if we forget our essential fragility; by showing that while what unites us is undeniable, what we allow to divide us too easily becomes murderous. This classic of anti-war writing is a warning about the immense human cost of following those who would have us hate others. Its US publication could not be more timely.—Richard Flanagan,Gould’s Book of FishLike all great war books, Sarajevo Marlboro is not about war—it’s about life. Jergovic is an enormously talented storyteller, so the people under siege come through in all their poignant fullness. And one more thing: this book does not belong to the literature of complaining, much too common these days—Sarajevo Marlboro is a book for the people who appreciate life."—Aleksandar Hemon,Nowhere ManReading Miljenko Jergovic’s Sarajevo Marlboro is like wrapping yourself in a quilt of 29 patches, with each patch personalizing the horrors of the Bosnian War in ways that are engaging, humorous, and unendingly sad. If we are ever to learn to avoid carnage it will be through such acts of constant humanizing as are captured in Jergovic’s amazing work.—Richard Wiley, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award forSoldiers in HidingJergovic’s writing derives great power from what is left unsaid.—Scotland on SundayPoetic and moving . . . Of the many books written on Bosnia, this collection of stories is perhaps the best.—Slavenka Drakulic,S.: A Novel about the Balkans