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The Resource A terrible country : a novel, Keith Gessen

A terrible country : a novel, Keith Gessen

Creator
Author
Summary
When Andrei Kaplan's older brother Dima insists that Andrei return to Moscow to care for their ailing grandmother, Andrei must take stock of his life in New York. His girlfriend has stopped returning his text messages. His dissertation adviser is dubious about his job prospects. It's the summer of 2008, and his bank account is running dangerously low. Perhaps a few months in Moscow are just what he needs. So Andrei sublets his room in Brooklyn, packs up his hockey stuff, and moves into the apartment that Stalin himself had given his grandmother, a woman who has outlived her husband and most of her friends. She survived the dark days of communism and witnessed Russia's violent capitalist transformation, during which she lost her beloved dacha. She welcomes Andrei into her home, even if she can't always remember who he is. Andrei learns to navigate Putin's Moscow, still the city of his birth, but with more expensive coffee. He looks after his elderly--but surprisingly sharp!--grandmother, finds a place to play hockey, a café to send emails, and eventually some friends, including a beautiful young activist named Yulia. Over the course of the year, his grandmother's health declines and his feelings of dislocation from both Russia and America deepen. Andrei knows he must reckon with his future and make choices that will determine his life and fate. When he becomes entangled with a group of leftists, Andrei's politics and his allegiances are tested, and he is forced to come to terms with the Russian society he was born into and the American one he has enjoyed since he was a kid. A wise, sensitive novel about Russia, exile, family, love, history and fate, A Terrible County asks what you owe the place you were born, and what it owes you
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
A terrible country : a novel
Title
A terrible country
Title remainder
a novel
Statement of responsibility
Keith Gessen
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
When Andrei Kaplan's older brother Dima insists that Andrei return to Moscow to care for their ailing grandmother, Andrei must take stock of his life in New York. His girlfriend has stopped returning his text messages. His dissertation adviser is dubious about his job prospects. It's the summer of 2008, and his bank account is running dangerously low. Perhaps a few months in Moscow are just what he needs. So Andrei sublets his room in Brooklyn, packs up his hockey stuff, and moves into the apartment that Stalin himself had given his grandmother, a woman who has outlived her husband and most of her friends. She survived the dark days of communism and witnessed Russia's violent capitalist transformation, during which she lost her beloved dacha. She welcomes Andrei into her home, even if she can't always remember who he is. Andrei learns to navigate Putin's Moscow, still the city of his birth, but with more expensive coffee. He looks after his elderly--but surprisingly sharp!--grandmother, finds a place to play hockey, a café to send emails, and eventually some friends, including a beautiful young activist named Yulia. Over the course of the year, his grandmother's health declines and his feelings of dislocation from both Russia and America deepen. Andrei knows he must reckon with his future and make choices that will determine his life and fate. When he becomes entangled with a group of leftists, Andrei's politics and his allegiances are tested, and he is forced to come to terms with the Russian society he was born into and the American one he has enjoyed since he was a kid. A wise, sensitive novel about Russia, exile, family, love, history and fate, A Terrible County asks what you owe the place you were born, and what it owes you
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Gessen, Keith
Dewey number
813/.6
Index
no index present
LC call number
PS3607.E87
LC item number
T47 2018
Literary form
fiction
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Russian Americans
  • Exiles
  • Grandmothers
  • Families
  • Homecoming
  • Identity (Psychology)
  • Political activists
  • Moscow (Russia)
Target audience
adult
Label
A terrible country : a novel, Keith Gessen
Instantiates
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
338 pages
Isbn
9780735221314
Lccn
2018025065
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
n
System control number
  • on1038241877
  • (OCoLC)1038241877
Label
A terrible country : a novel, Keith Gessen
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
338 pages
Isbn
9780735221314
Lccn
2018025065
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
n
System control number
  • on1038241877
  • (OCoLC)1038241877

Subject

Genre

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