My Parents: An Introduction / This Does Not Belong to You

Two books in one in a flip dos-¿os format: The story of Aleksandar Hemon¿s parents¿ immigration from Sarajevo to Canada and a book of short memories of the author¿s family, friends, and childhood in Sarajevo

In My Parents, Aleksandar Hemon tells the story of his parents¿ immigration to Canada¿of the lives that were upended by the war in Bosnia and siege of Sarajevo and the new lives his parents were forced to build. As ever with his work, he portrays both the perfect, intimate details (his mother¿s lonely upbringing, his father¿s fanatical beekeeping) and a sweeping, heartbreaking history of his native country. It is a story full of many Hemons, of course¿his parents, sister, uncles, cousins¿and also of German occupying forces, Yugoslav partisans, royalist Serb collaborators, singing Ukrainians, and a few befuddled Canadians.

My Parents is Hemon at his very best, grounded in stories lovingly polished by retelling, but making them exhilarating and f