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“Absurdistan is not just a
hilarious novel, but a record of a particular peak in the
history of human folly. No one is more capable of dealing
with the transition from the hell of socialism to the hell
of capitalism in Eastern Europe than Shteyngart, the great-great
grandson of one Nikolai Gogol and the funniest foreigner alive.”
—Aleksandar Hemon
From the critically acclaimed,
bestselling author of The Russian Debutante’s Handbook
comes the uproarious and poignant story of one very fat man
and one very small country
Meet Misha Vainberg, aka Snack Daddy,
a 325-pound disaster of a human being, son of the 1,238th-richest
man in Russia, proud holder of a degree in multicultural studies
from Accidental College, USA (don’t even ask), and patriot
of no country save the great City of New York. Poor Misha
just wants to live in the South Bronx with his hot Latina
girlfriend, but after his gangster father murders an Oklahoma
businessman in Russia, all hopes of a U.S. visa are lost.
Salvation lies in the tiny, oil-rich nation
of Absurdistan, where a crooked consular officer will sell
Misha a Belgian passport. But after a civil war breaks out
between two competing ethnic groups and a local warlord installs
hapless Misha as minister of multicultural affairs, our hero
soon finds himself covered in oil, fighting for his life,
falling in love, and trying to figure out if a normal life
is still possible in the twenty-first century.
With the enormous success of The Russian
Debutante’s Handbook, Gary Shteyngart established
himself as a central figure in today’s literary world—“one
of the most talented and entertaining writers of his generation,”
according to The New York Observer. In Absurdistan,
he delivers an even funnier and wiser literary performance.
Misha Vainberg is a hero for the new century, a glimmer of
humanity in a world of dashed hopes.
Gary Shteyngart was born in Leningrad
in 1972 and came to the United States seven years later. His
debut novel, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook,
won the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction and the National
Jewish Book Award for Fiction. It was also named a New
York Times Notable Book, a best book of the year by The
Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly, and one
of the best debuts of the year by The Guardian. His
fiction and essays have appeared in The New Yorker,
Granta, GQ, Esquire, The New York
Times Magazine, and many other publications. He lives
in New York.
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