New Releases by Gary Shteyngart

A poignant, sharp-eyed, and bitterly funny tale of a family struggling to stay together in a country rapidly coming apart, told through the eyes of their wondrous ten-year-old daughter, by the bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story and Our Country Friends “A novel you can read in one sitting that will stay with you forever.”—Karen Russell “Very funny, very sad, very sharp, and completely delightful.”—Elif Batuman “A brilliant fable about childhood, and so much more, in our broken country.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, Vulture, Publishers Weekly, Literary Hub, AV Club 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. Both biting and deeply moving, Vera, or Faith is a boldly imagined story of family and country told through the clear and tender eyes of a child. With a nod to What Maisie Knew, Henry James''s classic story of parents, children, and the dark ironies of a rapidly transforming society, Vera, or Faith demonstrates why Shteyngart is, in the words of The New York Times, "one of his generation''s most exhilarating writers."

Mars 2020. L’épidémie de Covid s’étend à travers le monde et les populations sont appelées à se confiner. Sacha Senderovski, écrivain, sa femme Macha, psychiatre, et leur fille adoptive Natacha, enfant précoce obsédée par la K-pop, accueillent un groupe d’amis dans leur maison de campagne sur les bords de l’Hudson. Dans ce cadre idyllique, la troupe hétéroclite constituée d’intellectuels citadins de diverses origines va se trouver ébranlée par les vicissitudes d’une retraite forcée qui servira pour chacun de révélateur. Avec Très chers amis, Gary Shetyngart signe l’un de ses romans les plus drôles. Un huis clos entre la comédie à l’américaine et le roman russe, où se nouent intrigues amoureuses, rapprochements et trahisons. Traduit de l’anglais (États-Unis) par Stéphane Roques.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Financial Times, The Washington Post, Time, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Kirkus Reviews Finalist for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction • Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize • “A perfect novel for these times and all times, the single textual artifact from the pandemic era I would place in a time capsule as a representation of all that is good and true and beautiful about literature.”—Molly Young, The New York Times (Editors’ Choice) Eight friends, one country house, and six months in isolation—a novel about love, friendship, family, and betrayal hailed as a “virtuoso performance” (USA Today) and “an homage to Chekhov with four romances and a finale that will break your heart” (The Washington Post) In the rolling hills of upstate New York, a group of friends and friends-of-friends gathers in a country house to wait out the pandemic. Over the next six months, new friendships and romances will take hold, while old betrayals will emerge, forcing each character to reevaluate whom they love and what matters most. The unlikely cast of characters includes a Russian-born novelist; his Russian-born psychiatrist wife; their precocious child obsessed with K-pop; a struggling Indian American writer; a wildly successful Korean American app developer; a global dandy with three passports; a Southern flamethrower of an essayist; and a movie star, the Actor, whose arrival upsets the equilibrium of this chosen family. Both elegiac and very, very funny, Our Country Friends is the most ambitious book yet by the author of the beloved bestseller Super Sad True Love Story.

«Shteyngart è un patrimonio nazionale. Ha spesso scritto con grande humour e grande cuore, ma mai come in questo romanzo.» Jonathan Safran Foer «Un romanzo perfetto per quest''epoca e per tutte le epoche, l''unico reperto testuale dell''era della pandemia da conservare e mettere in una capsula del tempo a futura memoria di tutto ciò che è buono, vero e bello nella letteratura.» The New York Times «Otto amici, una casa in campagna e sei mesi di isolamento: una storia sull''amore, l''amicizia, la famiglia.» USA Today «Un omaggio a Cechov in quattro atti, con un finale che vi spezzerà il cuore.» The Washington Post «Il grande romanzo americano sulla pandemia che solo Gary Shteyngart poteva scrivere: autenticamente multiculturale, scritto con una penna assassina e attraversato da una vitalità selvaggia.» Kirkus Reviews «Una favola potente per questo nostro tempo guasto.» Salman Rushdie Nei mesi del lockdown, la tenuta di campagna degli immigrati ebrei sovietici Sasha e Masha Senderovsky diventa una destinazione ambita. Alla coppia e alla figlia adottiva Nat, una bambina di otto anni ansiosa e brillante, più interessata alla sua identità asiatica che alle lezioni di russo imposte dalla madre, si uniscono Dee, ex studentessa di Sasha specializzata nel provocare i benpensanti, L’Attore, divo hollywoodiano in incognito, e tre compagni di liceo di Sasha: Karen, multimilionaria creatrice di un’app di successo, Ed, erede di una ricca famiglia coreana, e Vinod, scrittore mancato. Nella piccola colonia lungo il fiume Hudson – rifugio dal virus come in un moderno Decameron, ma anche asfittica clausura da reality show, isola progressista sotto assedio nell’America trumpiana e decadente dacha cechoviana – si inseguono nostalgie e risentimenti, amori decennali inconfessati e nuove passioni scatenate da un Cupido digitale. Ma su tutto incombono la paura del contagio e i problemi finanziari del padrone di casa, la cui carriera di scrittore comico è tutt’altro che in ascesa. Per conservare l’adorata tenuta deve convincere L’Attore a trasformare la sua sceneggiatura in una serie televisiva, impresa per cui sembra disposto a sacrificare tutto: amicizie, dignità e perfino la moglie. In questo nuovo romanzo Gary Shteyngart scatena il suo umorismo caustico contro le paranoie, le ipocrisie e i vezzi di un gruppo di privilegiati, ma al tempo stesso coglie il clima universale di quei mesi, la sospensione di progetti e legami, la forza di ciò che davvero conta e ci unisce.

Uno de los mejores libros del año según The New York Times Book Review , San Francisco Chronicle , NPR, The Washington Post , O: The Oprah Magazine , Library Journal , Kirkus Reviews y Financial Times , entre otros, elogiado unánimemente por la crítica. «Gary Shteyngart capta América a la perfección. [...] Cuando lo leo a veces me entran ganas de gritar: de admiración y de pura risa.» Richard Ford Narcisista, vulgar, millonario, infantil, acomplejado, soberbio, displicente, inútil, infatuado, estereotípico, incapaz, irresponsable: Barry Cohen está sobradamente cualificado para ser la desastrosa encarnación del sueño americano. Cuando, acosado por los problemas empresariales, le informan de que a su hijo le han diagnosticado autismo, decide dejarlo todo, abandonar a su familia y embarcarse en una odisea caótica e hilarante en la que recorrerá Estados Unidos en autobús buscando un amor ideal, irreal y perdido hace años. Este viaje de autoconocimiento capaz de arrasar con todo, en el que Barry irá entablando estrambóticas relaciones con quien sale a su paso, es el fiel reflejo de la huida hacia delante de una América que ha perdido el control de sí misma. Este es, a fin de cuentas, el presente de un país que quiere ser grande otra vez, quizá monstruosamente grande. Mediante la exageración, la deformación y un sarcasmo irrefrenable, Shteyngart pone en la diana el espíritu de la época en una novela corrosiva, escandalosa y tremendamente divertida. La crítica ha dicho: «Una de esas novelas (gordas) que te atrapan y no te sueltan desde la primera página, en toda la tradición de la épica estadounidense contemporánea desde Dinero de Martin Amis hasta La hoguera de las vanidades de Tom Wolfe. [...] Un retrato extraordinario de "la otra" América profunda». Silvia Nieto, El Mundo «Apoyada en el punto de vista y el humor ácido, la mirada desde fuera y desde dentro a la vez, la franqueza que solo podemos encontrar a través de la ironía y el sarcasmo, En Lake Success es una novela tan divertida como profunda. Situada en el punto álgido del Make America Great Again, con Donald Trump ascendiendo los últimos peldaños en su camino hacia la Casa Blanca, Gary Shteyngart aporta muchísimas más claves sobre la fanatización del país». Roberto Moro, Libros y Literatura «Esta novela es tan ácida, gamberra e intensa a la hora de rastrear las disonancias y los engaños, tanto individuales como colectivos, que hace que este extraño país parezca todavía más extraño». The New York Times «Una ambiciosa novela que es un análisis del "estado de la nación" [...]. Afilada, oportuna y real». The Guardian «Escandalosamente divertida». The Boston Globe «Una novela en la que comedia y patetismo están exquisitamente equilibrados». The Washington Post «Tan bueno como todo lo que hemos leído de este autor: inteligente, relevante, cargado de bondad de un modo fundamental, descacharrante (por supuesto) y con un gran final.» Kirkus «Shteyngart nos trae una comedia llena de gags y tan buena como siempre, pero se adentra en un terreno nuevo y desarrolla el pathos de sus personajes como si fuera un experto [...]. Esta es una novela con estilo y de gran corazón Publishers Weekly

«Un libro geniale, esuberante, un’opera di autentico virtuosismo.» Literary Review «In Destinazione America Gary Shteyngart fotografa perfettamente il Paese: la sua vacuità, i suoi lamenti, l''esibito disprezzo di sé » Richard Ford «Un romanzo ambizioso sullo stato della nazione, sul malcontento che ha portato allo sbalorditivo risultato elettorale del 2016... Pungente, attuale, vero. » The Guardian Barry Cohen, manager di un fondo speculativo, si considera il tipo più simpatico di Wall Street; marito impeccabile, padre amorevole, vive chiuso nel suo narcisismo e completamente distaccato dalla realtà. Ma la diagnosi di autismo del figlio fa scricchiolare il matrimonio con la bellissima Seema, e un’indagine sulle sue operazioni finanziarie peggiora la situazione. Dopo una cena fallimentare a casa di amici, Barry, ubriaco, abbandona New York a bordo di un pullman Greyhound, con il viso insanguinato dai graffi della moglie, senza carte di credito ma con una valigetta piena di preziosi orologi da collezione. La sua somiglia molto a una fuga precipitosa dopo il tracollo matrimoniale, finanziario e nervoso, ma presto si trasforma in un romantico viaggio alla riscoperta di sé, sulle tracce dei suoi miti letterari, di un amore universitario mai dimenticato e di un Paese disposto ad ascoltarlo e a curare le sue ferite, mentre quella che scorre fuori dal finestrino è in realtà un’America più che mai divisa, nell’estate che porta all’incredibile elezione di Donald Trump. Dai quartieri più disastrati di Baltimora fino alla rovente frontiera con il Messico, Barry passa da un esilarante equivoco all’altro, convinto di poter ritrovare i propri affetti, e aggiustare la sua vita come si aggiusta il meccanismo perfetto di un orologio.

“Spectacular.”—NPR • “Uproariously funny.”—The Boston Globe • “An artistic triumph.”—San Francisco Chronicle • “A novel in which comedy and pathos are exquisitely balanced.”—The Washington Post • “Shteyngart’s best book.”—The Seattle Times The bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story returns with a biting, brilliant, emotionally resonant novel very much of our times. NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE AND MAUREEN CORRIGAN, NPR’S FRESH AIR AND NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • NPR • The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • Mother Jones • Glamour • Library Journal • Kirkus Reviews • Newsday • Pamela Paul, KQED • Financial Times • The Globe and Mail Narcissistic, hilariously self-deluded, and divorced from the real world as most of us know it, hedge-fund manager Barry Cohen oversees $2.4 billion in assets. Deeply stressed by an SEC investigation and by his three-year-old son’s diagnosis of autism, he flees New York on a Greyhound bus in search of a simpler, more romantic life with his old college sweetheart. Meanwhile, his super-smart wife, Seema—a driven first-generation American who craved the picture-perfect life that comes with wealth—has her own demons to face. How these two flawed characters navigate the Shteyngartian chaos of their own making is at the heart of this piercing exploration, a poignant tale of familial longing and an unsentimental ode to America. LONGLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION “The fuel and oxygen of immigrant literature—movement, exile, nostalgia, cultural disorientation—are what fire the pistons of this trenchant and panoramic novel. . . . [It is] a novel so pungent, so frisky and so intent on probing the dissonances and delusions—both individual and collective—that grip this strange land getting stranger.”—The New York Times Book Review “Shteyngart, perhaps more than any American writer of his generation, is a natural. He is light, stinging, insolent and melancholy. . . . The wit and the immigrant’s sense of heartbreak—he was born in Russia—just seem to pour from him. The idea of riding along behind Shteyngart as he glides across America in the early age of Trump is a propitious one. He doesn’t disappoint.”—The New York Times

«La grande tradizione fantastico-satirico russa, da Gogol’ a Bulgakov… a Shteyngart.» THE NEW YORK TIMES «Portnoy incontra Čechov. Che cosa ci può essere di meglio?» Adam Gopnik Vladimir Girškin conduce un’esistenza noiosa in un piccolo appartamento dell’East Side di New York. Non sa ancora chi è e cosa vuole fare della sua vita, e trascorre le giornate lavorando in una società per l’Inserimento degli Immigrati. Al suo fianco c’è la fidanzata Challah, dal «profumo nauseabondo d’incenso e muschio», una ragazza semplice che si guadagna da vivere facendo la prostituta di lusso. Nella ricerca della realizzazione personale certo non gli è d’aiuto la madre, che non perde occasione di elencargli i suoi fallimenti. E ancora meno il padre, un medico che si è arricchito con metodi poco ortodossi. Un giorno irrompe nel suo ufficio uno strano individuo, Rybakov: un eroe di guerra russo, anziano e nevrotico, che sostiene di parlare con i ventilatori. Come tutti gli altri chiede una cosa sola, la naturalizzazione. Ma a differenza degli altri, Rybakov fa qualcosa per Vladimir: gli offre una mazzetta e anche un lavoro più redditizio al servizio di suo figlio, un pericoloso individuo noto con l’appellativo di Marmotta. Da questo momento Vladimir si ritroverà catapultato nella Republika Stolovaja, invischiato in loschi affari e in una serie di eventi tragicomici e grotteschi, che lo porteranno, forse, a trovare una via per realizzare le sue ambizioni.

SUPER SØRGELIG SAND KÆRLIGHEDSHISTORIE er Gary Shteyngarts vilde, syrede, dystopiske og ekstremt underholdende fremtidsroman om et Amerika på afgrundens rand. Vi er i den nærmeste fremtid – lad os bare sige en gang i næste uge – hvor et efterhånden funktionelt analfabetisk Amerika er ved at smelte sammen. Men sig det ikke til den stakkels Lenny Abramov, den 39-årige søn af en vred russisk emigrant, stolt forfatter til verdens måske sidste dagbog og mindre stolt indehaver af en skaldet plet formet som staten Ohio. På trods af sit job hos firmaet Post-Human Services, som forsøger at sælge udødelighed til sine super rige kunder, er døden utvivlsomt i hælene på denne kolesterol-rige tyksak af en mand. Og det er måske slet ikke så mærkeligt. Lenny er på alle måder fra et andet århundrede – han elsker bøger (eller trykte, indbundne medieartefakter, som de hedder nu), selvom de fleste af hans jævnaldrende synes de lugter og er irriterende. Men endnu mere end bøger elsker Lenny Eunice Park, en utrolig lækker og utrolig ond 24-årig koreansk-amerikansk kvinde, der netop har afsluttet college med en grad i ”Billeder” og sidefag i ”Selvhævdelse”. Lenny og Eunice bliver kæreste, og Eunice bruger straks sin uddannelse i selvhævelse til at opgradere det tunge drog Lenny med en ny garderobe og en mere udadvendt facon. Men America er på randen af sammenbrud, der er optøjer i Central Park, tanks ruller rundt i Manhattans gader, dollaren er historie og de kinesiske kreditorer er ved at miste tålmodigheden. Uforknyt insisterer Lenny på sin kærlighed til Amerika og til Eunice. Han vil overbevise sin lunefulde nye kærlighed om, at der mere end nogensinde er behov for ægte menneskelighed og kærlighed i en tid, hvor man kan afgøre mulige partneres ”hotness-” og ”holdbarhedsfaktor” ved at trykke på en knap; hvor de rige lever for evigt, og de fattige dør hurtigt. SUPER SØRGERLIG SAND KÆRLIGHEDSHISTORIE er en rablende morsom, lidt sørgerlig, nok ikke helt sand kærlighedsroman om den nære fremtid. En suveræn opfølger til succesen ABSURDISTAN.

Το 1979 ο επτάχρονος Ίγκορ Στάινγκαρτ και οι εβραϊκής καταγωγής γονείς του εγκατέλειψαν τη Σοβιετική Ένωση για τον καταναλωτικό παράδεισο των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών της Αμερικής. Το συνεσταλμένο και ασθματικό αγόρι είχε την αίσθηση ότι μεγάλωνε με μια επίμονη λαχτάρα – για φαγητό, αποδοχή, λέξεις, για όλα όσα θα τον συντρόφευαν ως την ενήλικη ζωή του. Στα πέντε του έγραψε το πρώτο του μυθιστόρημα O Λένιν και η μαγική του χήνα και η γιαγιά του τον αντάμειψε με μια φέτα τυριού για κάθε σελίδα. Με τον καιρό, στη νέα του πατρίδα, ο παράξενος Ίγκορ έγινε Γκάρι ώστε να περιορίσει το ξύλο που έτρωγε από τα άλλα παιδιά στο σχολείο. Οι αταίριαστοι γονείς του έτρεφαν γι’ αυτόν μεγάλες φιλοδοξίες. Τους διέψευσε και τους γέμισε ντροπή. Η μητέρα του, αναμειγνύοντας τα ρωσικά με τα αγγλικά, επινόησε τον όρο Φέιλιουρτσκα, δηλαδή Μικρή Aποτυχία, για να ονοματίσει τον γιο της, μάλλον με αγάπη. Ο Γκάρι ήταν πεπεισμένος ότι η ζωή του θα ήταν μια αλυσίδα απογοητεύσεων και ματαιώσεων. Τα πράγματα όμως δεν εξελίχθηκαν ακριβώς έτσι. Ύστερα από τρία επιτυχημένα μυθιστορήματα ο Γκάρι Στάινγκαρτ στρέφεται στην αυτοβιογραφική πεζογραφία. Αναπολώντας και αναπλάθοντας τα περασμένα, με αυτοσαρκαστικό χιούμορ και πηγαία συγκίνηση, μοιράζεται μαζί μας την αγωνία ενός μετανάστη και ενός συγγραφέα που, μεταξύ δύο αντιφατικών κόσμων, προσπαθεί να βρει τη δική του θέση. Προκλητική και τρυφερή, η Μικρή Aποτυχία είναι ένα βιβλίο ξεκαρδιστικού γέλιου αλλά και λυτρωτικών δακρύων. «Το περίμενα πως η αυτοβιογραφία του [...] θα ήταν ακριβώς τόσο ξεκαρδιστική, τόσο απροκάλυπτη και λεπτομερής όσο αποδείχθηκε· αυτό που δεν περίμενα ήταν η ψυχή αλλά και ο πόνος που υπάρχουν στο βιβλίο [...] Ο Πόρτνοϊ (του Φίλιπ Ροθ) συναντά τον Τσέχoφ που συναντά τον Στάινγκαρτ! Τι καλύτερο;» ADAM GOPNIK «Πώς [...] εξελίχθηκε σ’ έναν από τους πλέον αγαπημένους συγγραφείς στην Αμερική σήμερα [ο Γκάρι Στάινγκαρτ]; Με αγώνα, τόσο σε ιστορικό όσο και ατομικό επίπεδο, με πολύ χιούμορ και τσαγανό. Πάνω απ’ όλα όμως, εντείνοντας την προσοχή του: στον τρόπο που οι άνθρωποι μιλούν, συμπεριφέρονται, αγαπούν αλλά και πληγώνουν ο ένας τον άλλο. Αυτό είναι που δίνει στα μυθιστορήματά του την ευφρόσυνη ενέργειά τους και που κάνει τούτη την αυτοβιογραφία, κατά τη γνώμη μου, το καλύτερό του βιβλίο μέχρι σήμερα». ZADIE SMITH «Μια αυτοβιογραφία για την αιωνιότητα. Πήγα να πνιγώ από τα γέλια στην πρώτη σελίδα και έκλεισα το βιβλίο με μάτια υγρά απ’ τη συγκίνηση [...] Εδώ όμως το χιούμορ του [Γκάρι Στάινγκαρτ] αποτελεί αναπόσπαστο μέρος ενός βαθύτατου ψυχολογικού ταξιδιού. Βιβλίο γενναίο και ατρόμητο, η Μικρή Αποτυχία είναι ό,τι καλύτερο έχει γράψει μέχρι τώρα». MARY KARR «Η ιστορία της οικογένειάς του είναι ξεχωριστή και την αφηγείται με το θάρρος, τη σύνεση και την εξυπνάδα που θα περιμέναμε από τον ίδιο, έναν από τους πιο αστείους και διασκεδαστικούς μυθιστοριογράφους της Αμερικής». CARL HIAASEN

A finales de los setenta, los cambios en la política mundial tendrán una influencia decisiva en la vida de Igor, un niño enclenque y asmático de Leningrado. Jimmy Carter y Leonid Brézhnev han acordado intercambiar cereales entre sus dos países; a cambio, la URSS aceptará que judíos soviéticos puedan emigrar a EE. UU. La familia de Igor será una de las que se aprovecharán de ese acuerdo. Ya en EE. UU. –sempiterno enemigo para cualquier niño soviético- a Igor no le quedará más remedio que convertirse en Gary para ahorrarse problemas (y alguna que otra paliza). El cambio de vida es tan radical que Gary siente haber despegado de un mundo en blanco y negro para aterrizar en otro en tecnicolor; dos mundos tan contradictorios harán de su adaptación una tarea ímproba. Sus dificultades para encajar en el nuevo país son tales que su madre, decepcionada, acuñará el apodo «pequeño fracaso» para referirse al que hasta entonces había sido su hijo predilecto. En Pequeño fracaso, Shteyngart rememora su infancia en la URSS, sus vivencias como inmigrante en EE. UU., su juventud y sus inicios como escritor; un libro inteligente, mordaz y divertido que lo confirma como uno de los más destacados autores norteamericanos contemporáneos.

Traduit de l''anglais (États-Unis) par Stéphane Roques. Gary Shteyngart, l''auteur facétieux de Super triste histoire d''amour, a d''abord été le petit Igor, frêle garçon juif et asthmatique, courant gaiement autour de son premier amour, Vladimir... qui n''est autre que l''immense statue de Lénine à Leningrad. Quand Igor quitte la Russie pour New York, c''est une nouvelle vie qui commence, celle d''un fils d''émigrés dépassé par les ambitions de ses parents, qui le rêvent avocat et le rebaptisent Gary, parce que ce " bon à rien " a " déjà assez d''emmerdes comme ça ". Dans ses hilarants mémoires Gary Shteyngart nous dévoile tout, du cocktail détonant de son éducation russo-américaine à ses déconvenues amoureuses. Mais ce disciple littéraire de Groucho Marx et de Woody Allen a plus d''un tour dans son sac. Ses " Mémoires " s''imposent d''emblée comme un chef-d''œuvre de l''humour juif, et une formidable leçon de vie.

De kleine, astmatische Gary Shteyngart verhuist van Leningrad naar Amerika. Zijn ouders hopen dat hij advocaat wordt, of op zijn minst een gewetensvolle ploeteraar op Wall Street, maar dat blijkt niet weggelegd voor hun dromerige zoon. Zijn moeder verzint de naam Misloeksjka â Kleine Mislukkeling. Een troetelnaam. Meestal. Schipperend tussen het Joods- Russische familieleven en de Amerikaanse ambitie, leeft hij in twee tegengestelde werelden, wensend dat hij een echt thuis vindt. En iemand die verliefd op hem zou worden. En iemand die hem 69 cent zou kunnen lenen voor een hamburger van McDonaldâ s. Op provocerende, hilarische en vindingrijke wijze laat Kleine Mislukkeling zien dat een levenslang buitenbeentje dankzij zijn verbeelding een literaire stem heeft, en tegen alle verwachtingen in, een plaats in de wereld.

Toques autobiográficos, humor depreciativo, picardia e uma ponta de melancolia sempre frequentaram os livros do russo radicado nos EUA Gary Shteyngart, um dos mais talentosos romancistas de sua geração. Mas o autor de Absurdistão nunca havia ido tão fundo em suas próprias – e hilárias, desconcertantes – histórias quanto em Fracassinho – Memórias. Da infância em Leningrado à aculturação por meio de programas de TV americanos, passando pelas obsessões sexuais e o fracasso com as mulheres, a trajetória de subempregos, a literatura e, sobretudo, a complexa relação com os pais, o livro foi aclamado pela crítica e alcançou o cobiçado ranking de bestsellers do The New York Times.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MICHIKO KAKUTANI, THE NEW YORK TIMES • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MORE THAN 45 PUBLICATIONS, INCLUDING The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • NPR • The New Yorker • San Francisco Chronicle • The Economist • The Atlantic • Newsday • Salon • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Guardian • Esquire (UK) • GQ (UK) After three acclaimed novels, Gary Shteyngart turns to memoir in a candid, witty, deeply poignant account of his life so far. Shteyngart shares his American immigrant experience, moving back and forth through time and memory with self-deprecating humor, moving insights, and literary bravado. The result is a resonant story of family and belonging that feels epic and intimate and distinctly his own. Born Igor Shteyngart in Leningrad during the twilight of the Soviet Union, the curious, diminutive, asthmatic boy grew up with a persistent sense of yearning—for food, for acceptance, for words—desires that would follow him into adulthood. At five, Igor wrote his first novel, Lenin and His Magical Goose, and his grandmother paid him a slice of cheese for every page. In the late 1970s, world events changed Igor’s life. Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev made a deal: exchange grain for the safe passage of Soviet Jews to America—a country Igor viewed as the enemy. Along the way, Igor became Gary so that he would suffer one or two fewer beatings from other kids. Coming to the United States from the Soviet Union was equivalent to stumbling off a monochromatic cliff and landing in a pool of pure Technicolor. Shteyngart’s loving but mismatched parents dreamed that he would become a lawyer or at least a “conscientious toiler” on Wall Street, something their distracted son was simply not cut out to do. Fusing English and Russian, his mother created the term Failurchka—Little Failure—which she applied to her son. With love. Mostly. As a result, Shteyngart operated on a theory that he would fail at everything he tried. At being a writer, at being a boyfriend, and, most important, at being a worthwhile human being. Swinging between a Soviet home life and American aspirations, Shteyngart found himself living in two contradictory worlds, all the while wishing that he could find a real home in one. And somebody to love him. And somebody to lend him sixty-nine cents for a McDonald’s hamburger. Provocative, hilarious, and inventive, Little Failure reveals a deeper vein of emotion in Gary Shteyngart’s prose. It is a memoir of an immigrant family coming to America, as told by a lifelong misfit who forged from his imagination an essential literary voice and, against all odds, a place in the world. Praise for Little Failure “Hilarious and moving . . . The army of readers who love Gary Shteyngart is about to get bigger.”—The New York Times Book Review “A memoir for the ages . . . brilliant and unflinching.”—Mary Karr “Dazzling . . . a rich, nuanced memoir . . . It’s an immigrant story, a coming-of-age story, a becoming-a-writer story, and a becoming-a-mensch story, and in all these ways it is, unambivalently, a success.”—Meg Wolitzer, NPR “Literary gold . . . bruisingly funny.”—Vogue “A giant success.”—Entertainment Weekly

Amerika in de nabije toekomst. Het land is failliet en in oorlog met Venezuela. Central Park is uitgegroeid tot een getto, en iedereen loopt verplicht rond met een äppärät - de smartphone van de toekomst, waarmee alle persoonsgegevens voor de hele wereld zichtbaar zijn geworden: je inkomen, je gezondheidsstatus, met wie je het bed hebt gedeeld, wat je het laatst hebt gekocht, en hoe sexy je wordt gerankt. Lenny, een 39-jarige romanticus - trotse eigenaar van waarschijnlijk het laatste handgeschreven dagboek ter wereld, iets minder trotse eigenaar van een kale plek op zijn achterhoofd in de vorm van de staat Ohio - is hopeloos verliefd op de veel jongere en beeldschone Eunice Park. Eunice, een 24-jarige van Koreaanse afkomst, besluit zijn liefde te beantwoorden. Niet omdat ze verliefd is, maar omdat ze niet goed weet wat ze anders moet doen behalve Lenny leren hoe hij effectiever zijn tanden kan poetsen en dat ruimvallende shirts met een streepmotief zijn toenemende gewicht wat kunnen verbloemen. Terwijl het land onder vuur ligt is Lenny - blind van liefde - vastberaden zijn droomvrouw ervan te overtuigen dat het leven bijzonder is, zélfs in een tijdperk waar mensen met één druk op de knop iemands ''neukbaarheid'' en ''levensverwachting'' om zeep kunnen helpen. Kan Lenny''s eindeloze romantiek de wereld behoeden voor een grote catastrofe?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deliciously dark tale of America’s dysfunctional coming years—and the timeless and tender feelings that just might bring us back from the brink. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • San Francisco Chronicle • The Seattle Times • O: The Oprah Magazine • Maureen Corrigan, NPR • Salon • Slate • Minneapolis Star Tribune • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Kansas City Star • Charlotte Observer • The Globe and Mail • Vancouver Sun • Montreal Gazette • Kirkus Reviews In the near future, America is crushed by a financial crisis and our patient Chinese creditors may just be ready to foreclose on the whole mess. Then Lenny Abramov, son of an Russian immigrant janitor and ardent fan of “printed, bound media artifacts” (aka books), meets Eunice Park, an impossibly cute Korean American woman with a major in Images and a minor in Assertiveness. Could falling in love redeem a planet falling apart?

Una atinada visión de la transición del infierno del socialismo al infierno del capitalismo. Bienvenido a Absurdistán, reino del petróleo y la ambición desmedida. A Misha Vainberg le cierran las puertas de Estados Unidos cuando su padre -un influyente mafioso ruso- mata a un hombre de negocios de Oklahoma. Sin visado y sin esperanzas, ha de tomar un camino alternativo para volver junto a su chica del Bronx: viaja a la corrupta República Absurdsvanï para conseguir un pasaporte belga. Parece un plan sencillo, pero pronto todo se complica. En Absurdistán, Misha se ve envuelto en un surrealista conflicto bañado en sangre, petróleo y oscuras intrigas. ¿Podrá salir de aquella pesadilla y volver a su sueño americano? Reseñas: «Una inteligente sátira que entretiene de principio a fin; será difícil encontrar este año una novela política más divertida y aguda que ésta.» Librería Powells «La gráfica y burlona sátira de Shteyngart es un reflejo de cómo se vive el sueño americano en las hambrientas nuevas democracias. Su complejo y simpático protagonista es digno de ser comparado con los personajes legendarios de la literatura americana.» Publishers Weekly « Absurdistán es una magnífica sátira de la nueva oligarquía rusa, del estilo de vida americano, y de la megalomanía, consumismo y afán por explotar a pequeños países que comparten ambas naciones.» The Washington Post «Una sátira profundamente divertida, genuinamente conmovedora y completamente adorable.» Time «Esta novela es tan vigorosa, tan segura de su brutal superioridad, que solo respirando, sudando, estando frente a ella, se puede percibir su grandeza.» The New York Times Book Review «Una viva inteligencia brilla en cada página.» Washington Post «Comparado con la mayoría de novelistas de su edad, Shteyngart es un gigante a lomos de un caballo. Alcanza mayor profundidad, observa con más agudeza y llega donde quiere con mucho más aplomo.» The New York Times Books Review

Absurdistão'' apresenta ao leitor o judeu Misha Borisovitch Vainberg, filho do 1.238o homem mais rico da Rússia. Sua doce vida à sombra do World Trade Center muda quando volta ao país natal para visitar o pai. Ao tentar retornar para os EUA, onde cursa Estudos Multiculturais, Misha descobre que não pode entrar, já que o patriarca da família matou um norte-americano. Apavorado com a possibilidade de nunca mais poder curtir as benesses ianques, ele fará de tudo para conseguir um visto, incluindo um falso, de cidadão belga. Para tanto, Misha precisa fazer uma parada estratégica na república de Absurdsvanï, mais conhecida como Absurdistão, para conseguir a documentação. O que ele não poderia imaginar, porém, é que acabaria mais tempo do que gostaria nesse pequenino país à beira do mar Cáspio.

“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.

NAMED ONE OF THE ATLANTIC''S GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS OF THE PAST 100 YEARS A visionary novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story and Little Failure. The Russian Debutante''s Handbook introduces Vladimir Girshkin, one of the most original and unlikely heroes of recent times. The twenty-five-year-old unhappy lover to a fat dungeon mistress, affectionately nicknamed "Little Failure" by his high-achieving mother, Vladimir toils his days away as a lowly clerk at the bureaucratic Emma Lazarus Immigrant Absorption Society. When a wealthy but psychotic old Russian war hero appears, Vladimir embarks on an adventure of unrelenting lunacy that takes us from New York''s Lower East Side to the hip frontier wilderness of Prava--the Eastern European Paris of the nineties. With the help of a murderous but fun-loving Russian mafioso, Vladimir infiltrates the Prava expat community and launches a scheme as ridiculous as it is brilliant. Bursting with wit, humor, and rare insight, The Russian Debutante''s Handbook is both a highly imaginative romp and a serious exploration of what it means to be an immigrant in America.

Published in the U.S. since 1979, Granta is a handsomely illustrated paperback featuring outstanding articles. Granta''s contributors constitute an impossibly distinguished list. -- The Washington Post

Ce au în comun un scriitor de origine rusă emigrat în America, soţia lui, psihiatru, un copil precoce, obsedat de K-pop, un imigrant indian care a învins cancerul, o coreeancă faimoasă pentru dezvoltarea unei aplicaţii, un dandy coreean, o sudistă cu veleităţi de eseistă și un actor de film celebru? Cu toţii se întâlnesc sub acoperișul generos al lui Sasha Senderovsky pentru a se pune la adăpost de pandemia ce capătă proporţii din ce în ce mai ameninţătoare. Aici, în suita de bungalow-uri individuale și pe terasa casei celei mari, unde se întâlnesc toţi cu religiozitate la cină, au prilejul să dezgroape amintiri vechi și dragi, dar și invidii, gelozii și pasiuni crezute stinse. Marcat de vinovății, eșecuri sau regrete, fiecare duce o luptă cu sine, răsfrântă inevitabil și asupra celor din jur. Adăpostul fizic al așa-zisului sanctuar nu îi poate proteja nici de trecut, nici de viitor, iar pacea promisă e spulberată.

Leonard (Lenny) Abramov, fiul unor imigranți ruși de clasă mijlocie, are aproape patruzeci de ani, o mentalitate învechită și nu se remarcă prin nimic. El se îndrăgostește de tânăra Eunice Park, o coreeano-americană care se chinuie să-și găsească un drum în viață și să depășească traumele generaționale ale familiei ei tradiționale. Legătura tristă și ciudată dintre cei doi se desfășoară pe fundalul unei Americi în pragul colapsului economic, unde singurele industrii rămase sunt Creditul, Media și Comerțul cu Amănuntul. Partidul totalitar Bipartit promovează intens consumerismul și încearcă să elimine disidenții politici, în timp ce oamenii cu Valoare Netă Ridicată sunt încurajați să achiziționeze o Extindere a Vieții pe Termen Nelimitat.