Pretty Birds

by Scott Simon

(Fiction, 2005)

This novel about Sarajevo in 1992 tells the story about a time and place when civilians fought back. Simon has an eye for the telling detail and for the larger picture: the ineffectual Blue Helmets (UN troops), the shaky alliance between Bosnian Muslims and fundamentalist Arabs. He even manages a cliffhanger ending. A magnificent tribute, not just to the Sarajevans whose siege Simon reported, but to the indestructible human spirit. (Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2005). 368 p.