ATOPON
BOOKS

Amerikano

Stefan Mattessich​​

 

Fiction​​

 

Amerikano tells the story of Todor, his wife Katia, and his son Luka, ethnic Serbs from Croatia, who in 1999 flee under NATO bombs from Belgrade to San Francisco because of Todor’s love for American poetry and culture (the Beats most of all). There, they end up living in the Tenderloin, an impoverished neighborhood at the heart of the city. As they struggle to adapt, and Todor sees only what he wants to see, Luka falls under the spell of a charismatic older boy who involves him in a burglary that goes horribly wrong. Luka is left forever maimed, and Todor, haunted to the point of madness by his failure to protect his son, comes face to face with his illusions about himself and his new home. ​

 

Paperback: $16.00​​