Made in Yugoslavia - Vladimir Jokanovic

Luka, Greg and Bili grew up together in the small town of Osijek in the former Yugoslavia, getting drunk together, playing in a mediocre band, fighting and flirting with their girlfriends. Now it is 1991. Bili has just returned from national service and it looks like the young men can get back to their crates of beer but as the creaking sounds of tanks reach earshot and neighbours hurry down to their basements in their pyjamas it is clear that the town is changing irrevocably. Luka defiantly tries to carry on as normal as his Croatian girlfriend Maria rails at his indifference. But soon the young men must take sides and slowly each one is drawn back to a heritage that never used to matter much to them. He finds himself on the Serb side on a smallholding filled with looted televisions and a variety of crazy soldiers. Luka watches in resigned despair,as tragedy approaches. In stark and vivid prose, Jokanovic has created a hugely important work of fiction that exposes the emotions of people reluctantly fighting a very real war.