THE BOOK FAIR

Review:

Lazarus Averbuch, a young Russian immigrant, is murdered by Chicago police, in 1908.  He is later accused, to cover their crime, of being a subversive and an anarchist.

Olga, Lazarus’s sister, is deprived of burying her brother by police, who use his death to find, interrogate and deport other anarchists.

Vladimir Brik, a Bosnian immigrant, in the 1990’s, reads the old article and decides to write a book on the subject.  Residing in Chicago, Brik likens his immigrant experience to the U.S. from Bosnia, to Averbuch’s, immigration experience from the Ukraine to the U.S.  Brik harbors a general dislike of governments.

Brik receives a grant to write the book.  Brik intends to uncover information about Averbuch’s life before he immigrated to the USA and to gather information about the 1903 Pogrom in Kishinev, which occurred only a few years before Lazarus immigrated.  Rora, Brik’s friend and photographer, who also lives in Chicago, accompanies him on the journey.

Brik tracks down and speaks with members of the Jewish community about the pogrom.  Brik cannot link Averbuch to any crime or violence of any kind.  After finalizing the information for the book, Brik and Rora leave the Ukraine for Bosnia.  Rora photographed the war in Bosnia and enjoys tall storytelling.  The trip however, turns nightmarish.  Arriving in Bosnia, Brik and Rora run into more trouble than they can handle.

 

Brik narrates the quick paced novel.  In many ways, Brik represents Hemon’s own unhappy immigrant story.