The former Soviet bloc countries are the source of a recent surge of literary talent, which is ably harnessed in this collection of 12 impressive, penetrating stories. Fishman, a Belarus native and New Yorker
staffer, has selected stories of uniformly excellent quality, paying testament to the rich fictional reserves of countries where residents "sigh in appreciation for what was lost and what remained." The authors represented include natives of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union writing in English (Gary Shteyngart, Aleksandar Hemon) or appearing in translation (Miljenko Jergovic, Vladimir Sorokin) and Westerners with an abiding interest in the region (Arthur Phillips, Paul Greenberg). Although the pieces differ greatly, some common themes emerge, among them corruption, foreign identity and drinking—lots of it. Some of the pieces, like Sorokin's "Hiroshima," venture into the absurd; all, however, are steeped in a gritty realism, giving the impression that they are not fiction but real accounts dealing with actual lives. Tom Bissell's "The Ambassador's Son" presents a striking portrait of an elite American living in "one of the Central Asian republics you've never heard of," living a wild life and managing to avoid paying the consequences. Similarly, "Gika" by Wendell Steavenson explores the sharp contrasts that exist in so many post-Communist countries, juxtaposing the lives of a beggar boy in Georgia, who goes barefoot when he begs to elicit more sympathy, and a moneyed narrator. Set everywhere from Russia to the Balkans, these stories transcend their locales, capturing the charged, chaotic aftermath of social and political breakdown. (Oct.)
Forecast:
Booksellers may confidently recommend this to readers looking for a solid introduction to the literature of post-Communist Eastern Europe and Russia, particularly fiction with an expatriate slant.
