All three of Aleksandar Hemon’s books of fiction are smeared with
violence, squalor, Sarajevo, and America. The Lazarus
Project, Hemon’s newest novel, is about two Eastern European men,
separated by nearly a century but brought together by a collection of
odd, beautiful photographs. Hemon writes life into even incidental
characters. In one diner scene, he gives us hope and STDs, served
over eggs: A businessman has a gait “suggesting a sore groin” and
two prostitutes “savor… the sunny, pimpless morning.”
(Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. 8 pm, free.)