the book club: December 2003 Archives

Hilariously cheeky white Southern girl comes-of-age in this poignant and inspiring story set in 1964 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

A novel by Sue Monk Kidd

"The Russian Debutante's Handbook"
by Gary Shteyngart
Summary: Russian immigrant Vladimir Girshkin - "part P.T. Barnum, part Vi.I Lenin" - lives a futile life in NY City. Gets involved with yuppy women, is terrorized by his mother and has a fat girlfriend. Until he messes with the Mafia and is forced to flee to the imaginary Eastern European country of Stolovaya, where he becomes a Russian mobster in his own right.
Why read?: Hilarious, similar to "A Conspiracy of Dunces" in style. Dry humor, self-mockery, a shitload of cultural references, tongue-in-cheek throughout.