"The Bradford-Shmulkin family is falling apart. A very modern blend of Russian, Jewish, Korean, and New England WASP, they love one another deeply but the pressures of life in an unstable America are fraying their bonds. There's Daddy, a struggling, cash-thirsty editor whose Russian heritage gives him a surprising new currency in the upside-down world of twenty-first-century geopolitics; his wife, Anne Mom, a progressive, underfunded blue blood from Boston who's barely holding the household together; their son, Dylan, whose blond hair and Mayflower lineage provide him pride of place in the newly forming American political order; and, above all, the young Vera, half-Jewish, half-Korean, and wholly original. Observant, sensitive, and always writing down new vocabulary words, Vera wants only three things in life: to make a friend at school; Daddy and Anne Mom to stay together; and to meet her birth mother, Mom Mom, who will at last tell Vera the secret of who she really is and how to ensure love's survival in this great, mad, imploding world"--
Gary Shteyngart Ordine dei libri (cronologico)
Gary Shteyngart è uno scrittore americano le cui opere satiriche si svolgono spesso in ambientazioni fittizie elaborate ma familiari. Il suo umorismo approfondisce le complessità dell'identità e della posizione sociale, esplorando gli scontri tra cultura e ambizione personale. Attraverso personaggi brillantemente delineati e un linguaggio vivido, dà vita alle sue narrazioni con un occhio acuto per l'osservazione. La sua scrittura è nota per la sua miscela unica di arguzia agrodolce e profonda comprensione della condizione umana.







Our Country Friends
- 336pagine
- 12 ore di lettura
Eight friends, one country house, four romances, and six months in isolation-a novel about love, friendship, family, and betrayal, a book that reads like a great Russian novel, or Chekhov on the Hudson, by a novelist The New York Times calls 'one of his generation's most original writers'.
This novel reflects the current state of America with a blend of comedy and tragedy, eliciting both laughter and pain. The author presents an accurate and devastating mirror to American culture, prompting a desire to confront its harsh realities. The narrative is fueled by themes of movement, exile, nostalgia, and cultural disorientation, offering a vibrant view of the nation’s landscapes, people, and politics. Amidst the novel's humor and pathos, it explores the complexities of family love against materialism, portraying a protagonist who is both repelling and sympathetic. The story captures the challenges of parenthood, especially in raising a child with special needs, blending moments of power and vulnerability. With a mix of biting satire and warmth, the novel stands out as an artistic triumph. It combines the critique of Wall Street culture with a road novel’s restless spirit, showcasing the author's unique voice and perspective. This work is celebrated for its humor, heart, and insightful commentary on identity in contemporary America, making it a standout in the realm of comic literature. Overall, it is a big-hearted satire that resonates deeply with readers.
Mi chiamavano piccolo fallimento
- 402pagine
- 15 ore di lettura
Igor, un ragazzo asmatico a Leningrado, cresce con desideri di cibo, approvazione e parole. A cinque anni, ispirato da "Il meraviglioso viaggio di Nils Holgersson con le oche selvatiche", scrive il suo primo romanzo, "Le meravigliose oche selvatiche di Lenin", e riceve dalla nonna formaggio per ogni pagina. Per superare la sua paura delle altezze, il padre porta una parete di arrampicata in salotto e, nonostante il capogiro, Igor sogna di diventare cosmonauta. Nel 1979, la famiglia ebrea emigra in America, e Igor, che ora si fa chiamare Gary, scopre con terrore che stanno viaggiando "verso il nemico". A New York trova la sua prima compagna di giochi, una ragazza con un occhio mancante, e realizza: "Io sono un immigrato, e lei ha solo un occhio, quindi siamo uguali." La storia di un ragazzo che i suoi genitori chiamano affettuosamente "piccolo fallimento" è ricca di umanità ed emozioni, piena di umorismo, nonostante il cupo passato sotto Hitler e Stalin. Questa toccante e comica storia d'infanzia è avvincente e magistrale, e poiché è la storia personale di Gary Shteyngart, è anche vera.
Lenny's from a different century, he totally loves books (or printed bound media artifacts, as they are now known), but even more than books, Lenny loves Eunice Park. When riots break out in New York's Central Park, Lenny vows to convince his fickle new love that in a time without standards, there is value in being a real human being.
Love Is a Four-Letter Word
True Stories of Breakups, Bad Relationships, and Broken Hearts
- 297pagine
- 11 ore di lettura
From Junot Díaz, Lynda Barry, Gary Shteyngart, and Kate Christensen to popular up-and-comers like Dan Kennedy, Wendy McClure, and Brock Clarke, Love Is a Four-Letter Word is a dead-on contemporary collection of true stories of seduction, heartbreak, and regret. Fearlessly revealing their shattered hearts and crushed egos; their indiscretions and indignities; their delusions, desperation, and disappointments, these talented writers capture the dark side of love in prose ranging from comic to poetic, poignant to cringe-inducing. Also featuring three cartoon/ graphic essays as a sixteen-page color insert, this anthology is perfect for anyone who's ever loved and lost.
Open Absurdistan and meet outsize Misha Vainberg, son of the 1,238th-richest man in Russia, lover of large portions of food and drink, lover and inept performer of rap music, and lover of a South Bronx Latina whom he longs to rejoin in New York, if only the American INS would grant him a visa. But it won't, because Misha's late Beloved Papa whacked an Oklahoma businessman of some prominence. And Misha is paying the price of exile from his adopted American homeland. He's stuck in Russia, dreaming of his beloved Rouenna and the Oz of NYC
The Future Dictionary of America
- 400pagine
- 14 ore di lettura
Imagine what a dictionary might look like about thirty years hence, when all of the world's problems are solved and our current dictionaries are a distant memory. Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss have lined up an incredible array of writers to bring you that futuristic dictionary and a vision of the world as it might be. Think of it as a dictionary of language for describing what the future could look like a dictionary that is both useful and romantic, hopeful and necessary, pragmatic and idealistic, and frequently funny. This is science fiction but with a difference.
The Russian Debutante's Handbook
- 452pagine
- 16 ore di lettura
Russian immigrant Vladimir Girshkin finds himself returning to the Russian city of Prave where he becomes involved in a pyramid scheme to defraud his friends in the American ex-pat community


