The Russian Debutante's Handbook: Summary and book reviews of The Russian Debutante's Handbook by Gary Shteyngart, plus links to an excerpt from The Russian Debutante's Handbook and a biography of Gary Shteyngart.

The Russian Debutante's Handbook is infused with energy and wit and a brilliant use of language. Hilarious, extravagant, yet uncannily true to life, it follows the adventures of Vladimir, a young Russian-American immigrant, whose capitalist dreams and desires for a girlfriend lead him off the straight and narrow and into uncharted territory. Taking us from the dreary confines of New York City's Emma Lazarus Immigrant Absorption Society to the hip frontier wilderness of Prava--the Eastern European Paris of the nineties--whose grand and glorious beauty is marred only by the shadow of the looming statue of Stalin's foot, this is both a madcap adventure and a serious look at what it means to be an outsider in America, and what it means to be an American.

Media Reviews

O Magazine ... [a] tender and hilarious émigré's romance.   Time Out New York This picaresque debut...transcends its personal genesis to become an all-around great American story....If Henry Miller were Russian, this is a book he might have written.   Elle The rampaging narrative is festooned on every page with glittering one-liners, improbably apt similes and other miniature pleasures.   The Washington Post Gary Shteyngart ... has produced a sardonic, moving and ingeniously crafted update of earlier sagas of upward-struggling American newcomers.   Harper's Bazaar A brilliant, funny debut describing the vicissitudes of immigration today, as experienced by the hero, a young Russian-American.   Vanity Fair ... a terrifically charming tale of a young Russian immigrant's capitalist and carnal aspirations.   Publishers Weekly Although the satire on the expatriate American community is a little too easy, Shteyngart's Vladimir remains an impressive piece of work, an amoral buffoon who energizes this remarkably mature work.   Kirkus Reviews Ambitious, funny, intelligent, in love with irony and literary allusions, as if by a lighter Nabokov.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by pavel
there are two questions one should ask oneself before reading this book:
do you want to confirm and revel in the eccentricities of soviet jewish emigre?
do you want to entertain the idea that this writer's poshlost emancipation project has...   Read More

Rated of 5 by again Claudia (Italy)
Simply Marvellous! Shteyngart describes russian emigrates in Prague like I imagine them, and give also a critical idea of how young americans live today.
As an Italian girl I see Russian emigrates and Americans like Shteyngart describes...

Rated of 5 by Misha
Great Novel! Any honest soviet-Jew who grew up in the U.S. will be able to relate to the protagonist. A must read for anyone interested to know what Russians really think of the States, and how the soviet Russian mind tries to survive in the open...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Mike
This book was a scream! The protagonist, young Vladimir Girshkin, is a Russian immigrant ne'er-do-well with an uncanny ability to get himself into trouble... yet with an even more uncanny ability to stay just barely afloat in the most dire...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Michael
well written, superb command of language and wit compensate hansomely for a somewhat weak storyline. Funny and easy reading, pure pleasure.

Rated of 5 by amy
I really thought this book was awesome! It was selected at random for our book club, and it was a relief to read about misadventures instead of misfortunes. The author has terrific style...phrasing is excellent. I highly recommend this book.

...2 More Reader Reviews

Readalikes

If you liked The Russian Debutante's Handbook, try these:

---

---

These are 2 of the 6 readalike suggestions for The Russian Debutante's Handbook. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.

Books with similar themes

• Novels
  
• Love Stories
  
• USA 
  
• Mid-Atlantic 
  
• NY State 
  
• 1980s & '90s 
  
• 1st Books/1st Novels 
  
• Immigrants & Expatriates 
  
• Humor & Satire