The New Sweet Style

Alexander Korbach, the hero of acclaimed Russian migr Aksyonov's picaresque new novel, is, like his author, so disliked by the Soviet authorities that after a career as a protest singer and dramaturge for a troupe called the Buffoons, he's pressured by the KGB to leave the Soviet Union. He heads for Venice, Calif., where he gets a worm's-eye view of Reagan's America, working as a parking attendant, hanging out with the riffraff patrons of a local bar called First Bottom. But fate catches up with him in the person of millionaire Stanley Korbach, a distant relative. Alex refuses Stanley's assistance, but he does go to a big family reunion on Stanley's estate in Maryland, where he meets the love of his life, Stanley's married daughter, Nora Mansoun. The problem is, Alex is broke. He even has to sell cocaine to afford to see Nora. Eventually, Nora persuades Pinkerton University to hire Alex for the drama department. At this point, the story goes haywire. Stanley Korbach, now a blend of Daddy Warbucks and George Soros, showers Alex with a director's job in Hollywood and a position in an American/Russian political fund. Nora becomes an astronaut, then leaves Alex to go to a dig in Iraq. Alex as a celebrity, with Stanley acting as his personal deus ex machina, becomes a device by which the author can insert his historical observations about the fall of Gorbachev and the events of August 1991. At the very end, this massive book recaptures its manic but focused energy, when Korbach's Hollywood career falls apart. Despite the novel's lapses, Aksyonov is a fantastic talent, a master of ""Mr. Gogol's style of lyrical digression,'' by which he ponders literature and fate in large, sometimes autobiographical asides, like a series of genial showman's winks. Agent, Georges Borchardt. (Nov.)