A bildungsroman in 21 songs and collages, 3 Minutes and 53 Seconds
follows the life of an unnamed hero from 1984 to 2004 as he moves from
boyhood to early fatherhood. Uprooted from his home in Sarajevo
following his parents' divorce, the hero is thrust into a new life in
Skopje, where he grows up amid the unfolding political and social drama
of the collapse of Yugoslavia. The story is an intimate account of
rupture and displacement, but also, ultimately, resilience. The title
refers to the average length of a hit song, and the time it takes to
read each chapter. Arranging the formative moments in the hero's life
around songs of the period, Branko Prlja captures the zeitgeist of the
time. With a playlist from the '80s, '90s, and '00s that ranges from
heavy metal to punk rock, from grunge and drum 'n' bass to trip hop and
pop music, these are the tracks that left their mark on a whole
generation--not just in the Balkans, but worldwide.