“‘Where you come from’ is a book about the first coincidence in our biography: being born somewhere. And about what happens afterwards. ‘Where you come from’ is a book about a village, in which only thirteen people are still living, a country that no longer exists, a fragmented family, my family. It is a book about the question of what belongs to me, a self-portrait with ancestors. And a breakdown of the self-portrait. ‘Where you come from’ is a farewell to my grandmother with her dementia. While I am collecting my memories, she is losing hers. ‘Where you come from’ is a book about my homelands, in memories and inventions. A book about language and shame, arriving and coping, happiness and death.” – Saša Stanišić