Russian Computer (Ruski kompjuter), written by Semezdin Mehmedinović, a poet, is one of those books which grow on you from the first lines. The book, a sort of an emotion-laden migration diary, had been created somewhat unintentionally and subsequently re-found and saved in an even more unintentional manner. Russian Computer narrates about the fate not only of an intellectual but also every person in times of war and exile, as well as about the search for safety. It was created from August 1995 to August 1996, during the period when Semezdin Mehmedinović had left Sarajevo and decided to start his life anew. He seeks a place of that new beginning form Prague to Zagreb, via Phoenix and New York, all the way to Washington, where he still lives. Eloquently and concisely, Russian Computer narrates about Sarajevo, about the siege and consequences of the war, and due to its potent poetic language it becomes one of the key books for the understanding of the 1990s. The fate of this remarkable text - poetic, dramatic, and emotion-laden - proves that manuscripts, in Bulgakov's words, don't burn, and this manuscript once again confirms that Semezdin Mehmedinović is one of the most vital and the best contemporary authors from these parts of the world.