A devastating novel about the attrocities of WWII, and the unspeakable things people did to survive, by one of Yugoslavia’s great literary voices. Lamian is a survivor, but a survivor of a very special kind. He was a Kapo, a prisoner who served as a camp guard in order to save himself. But has Lamian saved himself? The war over, he resumes life in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, works in a land-surveying office, rents a room, eats as many hot potatoes as he likes, not even bothering to salt them—the quantity is what matters. If only he could stop looking over his shoulder and flinching on the street in the fear that some stranger will step forward, smack his face, and say in a loud voice, “Here’s one!” In this masterful novel, Aleksandar Tišma shows step by step how fear can turn an ordinary human being into a monster.