Absurdistan (novel)

Absurdistan (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Absurdistan
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Gary Shteyngart
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Random House
release_date = 2 May 2006
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 352 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 978-1400061969 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Absurdistan" is a 2006 novel by Gary Shteyngart. It chronicles the adventures of Misha Vainberg, the 325-pound son of the 1,238th-richest man in Russia, as he struggles to return to his true love in the South Bronx.

Plot

After Misha's father kills a prominent businessman from Oklahoma, the INS bars the entire Vainberg family entry to the United States, trapping Misha in his native Saint Petersburg, which he nostalgically refers to as "St. Leninsburg." Misha, a.k.a. "Snack Daddy" from his days at Accidental College, somewhere in the Midwestern U.S. (the college depicted is an obvious reference to Oberlin College, which Shteyngart attended, while the name is a play on Occidental College), is desperate to return to his true love, Rouenna, whom he met while she was working at a "titty bar" and who now attends Hunter College, at Misha's expense.

Misha's father is killed by a fellow oligarch. After which, Misha is given the opportunity to buy a Belgian passport. The passport seller was a corrupt diplomat in the ex-Soviet republic Absurdsvanϊ (also known as Absurdistan).

Absurdistan's reputation for oil riches got it the title "Norway of the Caspian." Divided between two major ethnic groups, the Sevo and Svanϊ, whose mutual hatred stems from a dispute over which way the "footrest" of the Orthodox cross should be tilted, Absurdistan soon finds itself ensconced in civil war and Misha is forced to take sides on behalf of a new love.

Appointed "Minister of Multiculturalism," he is asked to petition Israel for funds, but he soon finds he is being played by the Sevo leader, who has, in fact, been in league with the Svanϊ leader all along.

Reviews

"Absurdistan" debuted to mainly favorable reviews, including a glowing review by Walter Kirn on the cover of the "New York Times Book Review". The same paper's Sunday Book Review listed it as one of the 10 best books of 2006. [http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/review/20061210tenbestbooks.html]

ee also

*Absurdistan, a placeholder name for former Soviet bloc nations which have become, in the eye of the speaker, absurd, e.g. Turkmenistan.

External links

* Review of "Absurdistan" in the [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/books/review/30kirn.html?ex=1154664000&en=fe540e3643469e78&ei=5070 "New York Times Book Review"]


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