Buick Rivera
The novel Buick Rivera (2002) is the story of two Bosnian emigrants, Hasan Hujdur and Vuko Šalipur, whose destinies are shaped by the past and the conflict of identity. Jergović subtly criticizes the American "melting pot" and examines the possibility of
Hasan, a Bosniak who immigrated to the United States before the war, is a cameraman obsessed with his old 1963 Buick Rivera, which serves as a refuge from his alienation and cold marriage to Angela, a German immigrant. Vuko, a Bosnian Serb war criminal fleeing his past under a false identity, appears when Hasan's Rivera gets stuck in the snow. Their encounter sets in motion dramatic events that change the lives of everyone involved in 24 hours.
The novel explores themes of nostalgia, trauma, and cultural divide, showing how the legacies of war and ethnic tensions in 1990s Bosnia continue to haunt the characters in multicultural America. Jergović's style, without the classic division into chapters but with fluid storytelling, emphasizes the inner complexity of the characters. Hasan and Vuko, opposed in faith and morality, face their own demons, while the car symbolizes their connection to the past. The novel has been translated into nine languages, and in 2008 was adapted into an award-winning film by Goran Rušinović, which won the Heart of Sarajevo.
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