Goldblatt University

Go out and read this book right now. I eyed Walter Kirn’s initial NY Times review with some interest, and then found that the Times rated it as a top 10 of 2006, but didn’t get to read it until this summer.

Wow! What a hilarious knockout book, in the tradition of A Confederacy of Dunces and The Master and Margarita, Absurdistan follows a fat but lovable fool as he bribes and stumbles his way around the newly globalized planet. Misha Vainberg is an endearing, unforgettable character; author Gary Shteyngart has given us a poster-child for international 20-somethings coming of age in the new millennium.

The story is of Misha’s quest to get on the good side of US Immigration and preserve his relationship with his Brooklyn shorty, overcoming the obstacles of his Russian mob ties and the shifting waters of international immigration. It takes place in early September of 2001 and ends on September 10.

Read this book, you won’t regret it. It’s hilarious. It’s moving.