The Question of Bruno is a novella and stories that are linkedby characters, by locations, by interwoven substories, and by a literaryvoice so strong and sensitive that no matter how many guises it adopts,the stories cannot help but gather momentum and join together as apowerfully inventive whole.

Set in Chicago and Sarajevo, it is a book about the trauma of war,about how an exile makes a new life in a new land. But above all it is a workof impressive range, stunning accomplishment, and deep humor. In thenovella "Blind Jozef Pronek and Dead Souls," a young Sarajevan travelsto the United States and decides to stay when he sees war break out athome on CNN -- he goes on to experience a starkly contemporary versionof "coming to America." In "The Sorge Spy Ring," a young boy incommunist Yugoslavia becomes convinced his father is a spy because ofthe strange toys he brings back from Moscow.

Whether Hemon is writing of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand orof a family trip to the beach, of an immigrant in the United Statesfired from a sandwich shop for an inability to distinguish betweenromaine and iceberg lettuce, or of the art of dodging sniper fire in amodern city under siege, he is both painfully funny and heartbreakinglysad. He writes with a wit, freshness, and true originality that provehim one of the most talented and skilled writers of his generation.

"Astute and affecting, Aleksandar Hemon's The Question of Brunois a complex and delicately crafted collection, as unsettling as it ishopeful."
   NATHAN ENGLANDER

"Aleksandar Hemon is a striking new voice in fiction. I admire his worktremendously."
   AMY TAN

Set in Chicago and Sarajevo, it is a book about the trauma of war, about how an exile makes a new life in a new land. But above all it is a work of impressive range, stunning accomplishment, and deep humor. In the novella "Blind Jozef Pronek and Dead Souls," a young Sarajevan travels to the United States and decides to stay when he sees war break out at home on CNN -- he goes on to experience a starkly contemporary version of "coming to America." In "The Sorge Spy Ring," a young boy in communist Yugoslavia becomes convinced his father is a spy because of the strange toys he brings back from Moscow.

Whether Hemon is writing of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand or of a family trip to the beach, of an immigrant in the United States fired from a sandwich shop for an inability to distinguish between romaine and iceberg lettuce, or of the art of dodging sniper fire in a modern city under siege, he is both painfully funny and heartbreakingly sad. He writes with a wit, freshness, and true originality that prove him one of the most talented and skilled writers of his generation.

"Aleksandar Hemon is a striking new voice in fiction. I admire his work tremendously."
   AMY TAN

"To the elite ranks of writers from Eastern Europe -- Conrad, Nabokov, and Kosinski among them -- add the name of Aleksandar Hemon. Though compelled by circumstance to emigrate from their native tongues, Hemon's predecessors have...