The Book of My Lives by Aleksandar Hemon. Hemon is a jaw-dropping, award-winning fiction writer, but this book collects his non-fiction stuff, mostly discussing his strange arrival in the US - he was a Bosnian who was 'trapped' in Chicago when his Yugoslavia imploded. Most of the book I found repetitious and seemed like a slammed-together money grab, totally lacking in the Nabokov-like lightness of touch he usually exhibits. That is, except for the last piece, 'The Aquarium,' which details his youngest daughter's death by hydroencephalitis. This is wrenching, master-class writing. Stunning. If you're interested in this guy, I'd start with the Lazarus Project and go from there.