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Letters from the Madhouse
An uncompromising account of a Bosnian writer's life as an exile in America.
Considered a literary icon of Bosnia, Dario Džamonja wrote raw, unfiltered accounts of life in the streets of Sarajevo and the colorful, caustic characters who inhabited them—including himself. His unmistakable voice interwove criminal slang, local vernacular, and raw autobiographical inquisition to craft stories in which he often served as protagonist and antagonist.
In 1993, Dario arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, fleeing the carnage of the war that ripped Sarajevo in half. Letters from the Madhouse is his uncompromising account as a refugee in America and his recollections of a lost hometown. Spoken with ashen humor, Dario details his down-and-out life in the Midwest as he pines for the past and dodges the future, taking on odd jobs and associating with sketchy characters who amble in and out of the bars he often finds himself in. Through these incendiary short stories, Dario reckons with the destruction of his city and his life before finally resolving to someday return home.
Translated by his daughter Nevena Džamonja, Letters from the Madhouse reels between deliverance and annihilation, rapturing the reader with vivid prose and brutal detail in a collection which marks Dario Džamonja's English-language debut.
Considered a literary icon of Bosnia, Dario Džamonja wrote raw, unfiltered accounts of life in the streets of Sarajevo and the colorful, caustic characters who inhabited them—including himself. His unmistakable voice interwove criminal slang, local vernacular, and raw autobiographical inquisition to craft stories in which he often served as protagonist and antagonist.
In 1993, Dario arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, fleeing the carnage of the war that ripped Sarajevo in half. Letters from the Madhouse is his uncompromising account as a refugee in America and his recollections of a lost hometown. Spoken with ashen humor, Dario details his down-and-out life in the Midwest as he pines for the past and dodges the future, taking on odd jobs and associating with sketchy characters who amble in and out of the bars he often finds himself in. Through these incendiary short stories, Dario reckons with the destruction of his city and his life before finally resolving to someday return home.
Translated by his daughter Nevena Džamonja, Letters from the Madhouse reels between deliverance and annihilation, rapturing the reader with vivid prose and brutal detail in a collection which marks Dario Džamonja's English-language debut.
- GenresLiterature
152 pages, Paperback
Published December 16, 2025
About the author
Dario Džamonja
13 books48 followersDario Džamonja was a bosnian journalist and author of short stories.
He was a columnist for Slobodna Bosna, Večernje novine, Naši dani, Oslobođenje, Komunist, Valter and Valter ekspres, and editor in the magazine Lica.
Awards:
- "Veselin Masleša" for the best short stories book for 1985.;
- Fund Free Expression Award 1993;
- Writes Club Madison II award for Non-fiction 1994.;
- Madison Poetry award in 1996..
Bibliography:
"Priče iz moje ulice", Oslobođenje, Sarajevo, 1980.
"Zdravstvena knjižica", Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1985.
"Drugo izdanje", Veselin Masleša, Sarajevo, 1987.
"Priručnik, Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1988.
"Oni dani", 1989.
"Prljavi veš", autorovo izdanje, Sarajevo, 1991.
"Pisma iz ludnice", Slobodna Bosna, Sarajevo, 2001.
"Ptica na žici", Buybook, Sarajevo, 2002; - 2. dopunjeno izdanje, Buybook, Sarajevo, 2003.
"Priče - Dario Džamonja", Pressing, Sarajevo, 2003.
He was a columnist for Slobodna Bosna, Večernje novine, Naši dani, Oslobođenje, Komunist, Valter and Valter ekspres, and editor in the magazine Lica.
Awards:
- "Veselin Masleša" for the best short stories book for 1985.;
- Fund Free Expression Award 1993;
- Writes Club Madison II award for Non-fiction 1994.;
- Madison Poetry award in 1996..
Bibliography:
"Priče iz moje ulice", Oslobođenje, Sarajevo, 1980.
"Zdravstvena knjižica", Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1985.
"Drugo izdanje", Veselin Masleša, Sarajevo, 1987.
"Priručnik, Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1988.
"Oni dani", 1989.
"Prljavi veš", autorovo izdanje, Sarajevo, 1991.
"Pisma iz ludnice", Slobodna Bosna, Sarajevo, 2001.
"Ptica na žici", Buybook, Sarajevo, 2002; - 2. dopunjeno izdanje, Buybook, Sarajevo, 2003.
"Priče - Dario Džamonja", Pressing, Sarajevo, 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 3, 2026
My word I did not expect to love this book so much. I’m good friends with Dijana - the ex-wife of the author, mother of the translator, and recurring character in the essays. I bought it because I was interested in learning more about their experience and to show my support for her family. But as soon as I started reading I couldn’t stop. I read it in a day.
Simultaneously this is a damning portrayal of the refugee experience in America and how ruthlessly unsympathetic we (even in the kind Midwest) are and a heartbreakingly intimate journal of someone with so much sorrow, trauma, and regret. Nevena highlights in the introduction how much Dario relied on self sabotage to cope with all the loss and tragedy in his life and there’s a haunting story in one chapter where he essentially admits as much (something like to keep offending ensures I never get offended).
The jabs and punches thrown at how Americans treated refugees during (like parade animals) and after (like leeches) the war are sharp and biting but dressed up in comedy’s clothing until each big reveal. I cannot recommend this enough.
“ I told her ‘no, I was on the shooting range and I was the target.’ She looked at me like I was an alien and kept peeling.”
Simultaneously this is a damning portrayal of the refugee experience in America and how ruthlessly unsympathetic we (even in the kind Midwest) are and a heartbreakingly intimate journal of someone with so much sorrow, trauma, and regret. Nevena highlights in the introduction how much Dario relied on self sabotage to cope with all the loss and tragedy in his life and there’s a haunting story in one chapter where he essentially admits as much (something like to keep offending ensures I never get offended).
The jabs and punches thrown at how Americans treated refugees during (like parade animals) and after (like leeches) the war are sharp and biting but dressed up in comedy’s clothing until each big reveal. I cannot recommend this enough.
“ I told her ‘no, I was on the shooting range and I was the target.’ She looked at me like I was an alien and kept peeling.”
December 29, 2025
I was roaming around in the bookstore when this little book caught my eye. I wasn’t looking for it but I found it- I bought it, and I now sit in satisfactory after finishing it.
I loved and dreaded every moment of this book and what makes it all the better is who translated it, his daughter, and I think that is one of the most important features. If you read it, you will understand the impact further- please read it.
I loved and dreaded every moment of this book and what makes it all the better is who translated it, his daughter, and I think that is one of the most important features. If you read it, you will understand the impact further- please read it.
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December 23, 2025(coincidentally bought this on the day it was published, hey)
As a preference, I don't use the start rating system.
A work poignantly summed up in the foreward: 'This book is also a personal account of displacement, and of war and its mental and physical wounds.'
A difficult book to categorise. Ficition, memoir, stretched and embellished truth. Slender, but not slight and filled with a racous, manic energy that might have been diluted if it had continued on for 200 plus pages. Clearly deeply personal. At times I felt I was reading someone's diary, or having it recited to me in a loud and crowded bar. That's the mood that's replicated here: loud and bombastic at times, profoundly reflective and melancholy, though not without humour. Lonely.
What's most striking in these pages is, what seems to me, the author's zest for life, as well as his disappointment with it.
I'm glad I stumbled upon it, and hope more of Džamonja's works will be translated.
As a preference, I don't use the start rating system.
A work poignantly summed up in the foreward: 'This book is also a personal account of displacement, and of war and its mental and physical wounds.'
A difficult book to categorise. Ficition, memoir, stretched and embellished truth. Slender, but not slight and filled with a racous, manic energy that might have been diluted if it had continued on for 200 plus pages. Clearly deeply personal. At times I felt I was reading someone's diary, or having it recited to me in a loud and crowded bar. That's the mood that's replicated here: loud and bombastic at times, profoundly reflective and melancholy, though not without humour. Lonely.
What's most striking in these pages is, what seems to me, the author's zest for life, as well as his disappointment with it.
I'm glad I stumbled upon it, and hope more of Džamonja's works will be translated.
December 17, 2025
one of my favorite reads of the year. sad and funny and beautiful. what a beautiful tribute from a daughter to her father. and a father to his daughter. sarajevo awaits me in 2026.
March 24, 2026
phenomenal:) will be rereading
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews