The Cellist of Sarajevo

Toronto, ON: Riverhead Books, 2008. Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. Clean, tight, unmarked; very minimal wear; appears unread; In a city under siege, four people whose lives have been upended are ultimately reminded of what it is to be human. From his window, a musician sees 22 of his friends and neighbours killed by a mortar attack. In an act of defiance, the man picks up his cello and decides to play at the site of the attack for 22 days in their memory. Elsewhere, a young man leaves home to collect drinking water for his family and in the face of danger must weigh the value of generosity against selfish survivalism. A third man, older, sets off in search of bread and distraction, and instead runs into a long-ago friend who reminds him of the city he thought he had lost, and the man he once was. As both men are drawn into the orbit of cello music, a fourth character - a young woman, a sniper - holds the fate of the cellist in her hands. While she protects him with her life, her own army prepares to challenge the kind of person she has become. A novel of great intensity and power, this book brilliantly explores how war can change one's definition of humanity, how music affects our emotional endurance, and how a romance with the rituals of daily life can itself be a form of resistance.