Dispersion

"When I started writing the book, I had no idea that its title would acquire this additional meaning. Dispersion as a disease. But I do not want to write about illness. I want - about recovery." The action of Alexander Stesin's new novel takes the reader not only to different geographical points, as in previous novels, but also to different times - from medieval Portugal to modern America. Drawing on archival evidence, conversations with close relatives, and his own memory, Stesin attempts to save from oblivion the history of his family and meticulously weaves a network of distant and close kinship with people with whom, at first glance, he shares nothing. Behind the almost detective investigation lies the question that, against the backdrop of recent catastrophic events, resonates with particular sharpness: what is our "self" made of? From the memory of ancestors? From the burdens of private and historical hardships overcome? From existence in a culture - not given by the fact of birth, but acquired as a result of conscious choice?
Alexander Stesin is a poet, prose writer, traveler, and doctor, author of the books "Troy Against All," "New York Detour," "Asian Book," "African Book," "By the Path of Tea," and others. Winner of the literary prize "NOS."