Nowhere Man

The mind - and language-bending adventures of Hemon's endearing protagonist Jozef Pronek.

This is what we know about Jozef Pronek from reading of his exploits in 'The Question of Bruno': he is a young man from Sarajevo who arrived in the US in 1992, just in time to watch war break out back home on TV. Stranded in Chicago, he proved himself a charming and perceptive observer of - and participant in - American life.

Now, with 'Nowhere Man', Pronek, accidental urban nomad, gets his own book. From the grand causes of Jozef's adolescence - principally, fighting to change the face of rock and roll and struggling to lose his virginity - up through a fleeting encounter with George Bush (the first) in Kiev, to enrolment in a Chicago English-language class and the glorious adventures of minimum-wage living, Pronek's experiences are at once touchingly familiar and bracingly out-of-the-ordinary.