|
Bookshelf
Page 1
 The
Russian Debutante's Handbook
By Gary Shteyngart '95
Riverhead Books, 2002
Reviewed by Dan Chaon
BE WARNED: The Russian Debutante's Handbook is a difficult
book to read in public, since it may cause you to laugh out loud
so frequently that others may think you are insane. It is, in fact,
one of the funniest first novels to come along in some time, a wry
but rowdy satire of the contemporary immigrant experience--a somewhat
sprawling picaresque of assimilation and naturalization, which along
the way skewers a variety of plump targets: the rigors of growing
up in a high-achieving Jewish family; the quirks of New Yorkers,
wealthy and poor; the weirdness of the United States; and the chaos
of post-communist Eastern Europe. There are Russian mobsters, and
gullibly smug postmodern American expatriates, and the music of
ABBA, and (ahem) a bucolic midwestern liberal arts college. There
is a nice Ohio girl named Morgan, and an overweight S&M sex
worker named Challah, and a statue of Stalin's foot.
At the center of this broad canvas is Vladimir
Girshkin--"enduring victim of every practical joke the
late 20th century had to offer"--the 25-year-old slacker
son of émigrés who came to the U.S. as part of
a Carter administration-era exchange of American grain for Russian
Jews, and whom his mother now affectionally calls "Little
Failure." He is an amazing creation. In Vladimir, Shteyngart
has imagined a truly complex and memorable character, a sad
sack who is in equal parts heartfelt and amoral, selfish and
sweet, sharp-witted and naive. One of the great pleasures of
the novel is spending time with crafty but hapless Vladimir
as he makes his way from Gorky-esque clerk at the Emma Lazarus
Immigrant Absorption Society, to common flunky for a Russian
mobster named the Groundhog, to suitor for the hand of the nice
midwestern girl. Even in the midst of broadly caricatured figures,
Vladimir remains wonderfully grounded and believable, as does
Shteyngart's portrayal of late 20th-century Russian Jewish immigrant
life.
The other star of the novel is Shteyngart's rich,
odd, piquant prose. This is a really wonderfully written book,
and you may be tempted to recite passages to people nearby.
Here is an acquaintance of Vladimir's: "...from this stick-like
figure there billowed a head as tumescent as poori bread--a
Rudolphine red nose, bulbous chin, cheeks so slack the skin
above was creased from their weight." Here is Vladimir's
mother, visiting kindergarten, leaning over Vladimir's nap-mat
to ask, "Has anyone assaulted you yet?"
Shteyngart's novel takes the reader on a roller-coaster
ride through the absurdities of the contemporary New World Order,
but the novel is more than just a parody. There are also the
constants of family and romantic love, the struggle to settle
into an uncertain future, the sympathetic exploration of self-doubt,
which brings a lingering melancholy to the sometimes slapstick
proceedings. I laughed my way through this book, but in the
end I was impressed by the seriousness of feeling that it evoked.
Dan Chaon is an award-winning author and assistant professor
of creative writing at Oberlin.
Coaching with Spirit: Allowing Success
to Emerge
By Teri-E Belf '67
Pfeiffer/Wiley Publishers, 2002
Belf, named one of the 10 most influential coaches by readers of
Professional Coach magazine, suggests methods for integrating
spirituality into management and coaching practices to increase
awareness, self-discovery, and personal responsibility. The book
offers exercises, points for reflection, assessments, and techniques
for involving spiritual thinking in professional interactions with
clients.
 A
Most Ingenious Paradox: The Art of Gilbert and Sullivan
By Gayden Wren '83
Oxford University Press, 2001
More than a century after their last collaboration, Gilbert
and Sullivan remain a vital part of theatrical life. This book,
with roots in a Gilbert and Sullivan course taught at Oberlin
by Wren in 1982-83, explores the popularity of the duo's 14
operas and their influence on musical theater today. Wren, a
playwright, was a co-founder of the Oberlin College Gilbert
& Sullivan Players.
Brutal Music
By James Lindsay '82
Southern Methodist University Press, 2002
Set in suburban New York, Lindsay's novel is the intriguing
story of one teenager's murder and another's failed suicide
attempt. Using a double narrative in alternating chapters, he
takes readers through these troubling events, exploring the
themes of violence, love, guilt, and blame from all angles.
As the two narratives merge, a father and son face shocking
insights into themselves and each other, as they evaluate their
personal responsibility for what has happened.
Page 1
| 2 | 3
of Bookshelf
|
