Unspeakable Home

A middle-aged immigrant sorts through his memories of the Bosnian War and his present-day romantic woes in this clever and moving work of autofiction from Prcic (Shards). Izzy Prcic lives out of his car in Salem, Ore., where he drinks heavily and writes confessional and often self-deprecating fan emails to comedian Bill Burr. Interspersed with the letters are short stories written by Izzy and narrated by characters who, as Izzy explains in his letters to Burr, represent different versions of himself (“every chunk a snapshot of a particular brokenness”). In “Slouching Toward Pichka Materina,” the narrator recalls how he escaped the war’s privation by huffing paint with the other punk rock kids. The 17-year-old narrator of “Bosnian Dream” struggles to assimilate to life in the U.S., where his uncle advises him to cold-call DreamWorks for a job rather than go to college. In “Teletovič Grills Lamb, Defensively,” set in the present, the narrator tries to connect with his American-born son through playing a violent video game. Prcic adeptly portrays his characters’ shaky lives and painful pasts, and the blend of autobiography and metafiction evokes Izzy’s disorientation. Prcic’s impressive talents are on full display. Agent: PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Aug.)