First, the website for the novel seems cool (I haven't looked at much of it, though): http://www.aleksandarhemon.com/
This book is supposed to be two intertwined narratives. The first is the story of Lazarus Averbuch, a Jewish immigrant who was shot by the Chief of Police upon entering the Chief's home with some sort of letter or document (we never find out what that paper is). The story, however, begins with the day of the shooting and focuses mainly on the aftermath through his sister, Olga. The second narrative is that of Vladimir Brik a Bosnian immigrant and a newspaper columnist who decides to research and write a book about Lazarus. The narratives take alternating chapters with some information about Lazarus showing up in Brik's chapters.
My first concern with the book was the tone and language. The narrator of the Lazarus sections takes what could be a tongue-in-check tone by calling Lazarus an anarchist every few sentences or so. But then this is dropped without any explanation or conclusion so I'm not sure if the tone was, in fact, tongue-in-check or if it was heavy handed moralizing. Some of the language of the book was a little contrived. At one point Brik wants waffles for lunch, can't have them, and then "waffles" over the burger he ordered for lunch. That's a little much. The author is not a native English speaker but he has published in English before and he won an MacArthur genius grant which should indicate he knows the language he's writing.
My second concern was the length of the chapters as they relate to each narrative. Brik takes up most of the page count but I wanted more information about the murder--which is the topic of his book-to-be.
Then there are a few concerns rolled up in one--and this is where some plot details will be divulged so stop here if you don't want spoilers. The murder is never resolved but, more importantly than that, the accusations of anarchy are never resolved, we're never offered even a hint of a resolution, we never know why Lazarus went to the Chief's house . . . . All we know is the ordeal Olga had with the police and that she grieved Lazarus but went on with her life. Brik's life is also never really resolved. He is having imaginary trouble with his wife--as in he often imagines her leaving but we're given nothing to indicate that she might leave--and then decides at the end of the book to stay in Bosnia (which he was visiting as his homeland and as research because it was Lazarus's homeland) instead of returning to her. These two unresolved narratives attempt to answer each other in a forced manner. Brik gets to return "home" in a way Lazarus never could (in body or spirit because of a botched burial). A life-long friend of Brik's (who travels with him to Bosnia) is shot seven times--the same number of shots that killed Lazarus. Both the friend and Lazarus are raised from the dead by stories and art--the former told wild tales about his life and took photos and the latter wanted to be a novelist and was the subject of a novel (presumably, we never know if Brik actually writes the book). There is a mother-figure woman in all three of their lives (Lazarus, Brik, and the friend--sister, wife, sister). And these are just the points I can remember right now.
All in all, the book was a disappointment. It was a clever idea but the attempts to connect the contemporary and past narratives proved too much for the basic structure to handle. The book starts off well and is interesting but then gets too interested in its own games and tricks to sustain itself or be profound the way it could have been.
The book is interspersed with photos that are sometimes connected and interesting and sometimes not so much.
I'm not sure why you'd read this. If you're particularly interested in Bosnian Americans, need to read every example of Emma Goldman showing up in literature, or are especially concerned with retellings of murders . . . . maybe. But know that while it's not completely terrible it's not the best book ever.
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