This book could have been finished five years ago. But could I? Since I didn't finish it back then, but now, it means either that certain things – within me – were holding me back or that some others – regarding the substance of the matter and form – were missing.
I started writing it during the war in Bosnia. I thought I would finish it, but suddenly I left it almost halfway. And since then, all these years, I kept taking notes. Many notes. However, I didn't sit down to write it on a daily basis.
And on the day the war in Serbia started – March 24, 1999 – something powerful pushed me to reopen the folder. Reading and rereading everything I had written, along with my hundreds of notes, I realized that, without even knowing it, I had already finished it. However, I had to start over with all the material. I wrote it for 75 consecutive days – as long as the NATO bombings lasted – and I finished it on June 7. Three days later, the peace agreement was signed.
(In any case, in the book, the last date recorded is the day the war broke out. The day the hero of the book 'breaks'.) I have given this protagonist of the book my initials and my signature. I was so much 'him' when I was writing it. I could have given him my appearance as well, but in my mind, he never had a specific form. He was somewhat ethereal, shapeless, a shadow.
I don’t know if the same will happen with the reader, that is, if they will identify with him or not. If so, then my book will captivate them. If not, they will be indifferent from the first pages. There’s no need to go further. (Unfortunately, I won't be able to return their 'payment'. But perhaps I'll treat them to a drink.)
[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]
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