New York, Summer, Very near future, Economic collapse, tanks in the streets, riots in Central Park, defeat in Venezuela, books are quaint artefacts, what's left of the indebted United States is about to be parcelled out to the rising nations of Finance-London and China-Worldwide, and what's left of interpersonal relations can be summarized by a couple of flashing statistics on attractiveness and wealth. But Lenny Abramov is too in love to notice any of it. The son of working-class Russian immigrants, a bumbling minor ...
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New York, Summer, Very near future, Economic collapse, tanks in the streets, riots in Central Park, defeat in Venezuela, books are quaint artefacts, what's left of the indebted United States is about to be parcelled out to the rising nations of Finance-London and China-Worldwide, and what's left of interpersonal relations can be summarized by a couple of flashing statistics on attractiveness and wealth. But Lenny Abramov is too in love to notice any of it. The son of working-class Russian immigrants, a bumbling minor functionary in a company that just may hold the secret to eternal life, and the reluctant star of a show called "101 People We Need To Feel Sorry For", he has fallen way too hard for the imperious Eunice Park, a blistering, beautiful Korean-American, a seductive shopper and brilliant money-spender who still knows how to speak in sentences, and a true child of her times. As the country around them explodes into a million glittering pieces, the two will discover whether love is still possible in a world where words have lost their meaning, and where every touch, embrace and kiss could be mistaken for a commodity.
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Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover.
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Very good in very good dust jacket. Outline: -In a very near future a functionally illiterate America is about to collapse. But don`t tell that to poor Lenny Abramov proud author of what may well be the world`s last diary. Despite his job at an outfit called `Post-Human Services` which attempts to provide immortality for its super-rich clientele death is clearly stalking this cholesterol-rich morsel of a man. And why shouldn`t it? Lenny`s from a different century. He TOTALLY loves books (or `printed bound media artifacts` as they`re now known) even though most of his peers find them smelly and annoying. But even more than books Lenny loves Eunice Park an impossibly cute and impossibly cruel twenty-four-year-old Korean-American woman who just graduated from Elderbird College with a major in `Images` and a minor in `Assertiveness`. When riots break out in New York`s Central Park the city`s streets are lined with National Guard tanks and patient Chinese creditors look ready to foreclose on the whole mess Lenny vows to convince his fickle new love that in a time without standards or stability there is still value in being a real human being. -> the publisher of this PAPERBACK book is Granta Publications The date of this copy is 2011 booksalvation have grade it as Very Good and it will be shipped from our UK warehouse This book is from the Series. Shipping is Free for UK buyers and at a reasonable charge for buyer outside the UK.
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New York, Summer, Very near future, Economic collapse, tanks in the streets, riots in Central Park, defeat in Venezuela, books are quaint artefacts, what's left of the indebted United States is about to be parcelled out to the rising nations of Finance-London and China-Worldwide, and what's left of interpersonal relations can be summarized by a couple of flashing statistics on attractiveness and wealth. But Lenny Abramov is too in love to notice any of it. The son of working-class Russian immigrants, a bumbling minor functionary in a company that just may hold the secret to eternal life, and the reluctant star of a show called "101 People We Need To Feel Sorry For", he has fallen way too hard for the imperious Eunice Park, a blistering, beautiful Korean-American, a seductive shopper and brilliant money-spender who still knows how to speak in sentences, and a true child of her times. As the country around them explodes into a million glittering pieces, the two will discover whether love is still possible in a world where words have lost their meaning, and where every touch, embrace and kiss could be mistaken for a commodity.
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Very good. Simply Brit – welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there's something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped within 24 hours and our lightning fast-delivery within 48 hours coupled with our prompt customer service ensures a smooth journey from ordering to delivery. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality.
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Very good. Simply Brit – welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there's something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped within 24 hours and our lightning fast-delivery within 48 hours coupled with our prompt customer service ensures a smooth journey from ordering to delivery. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality.
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Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
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Fair. Used book-May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
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Fine. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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New. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
This book makes my short list for works most likely to be called "a classic." In a more hopeful future a-coming than Shteyngart's, this book will be required reading for AP kids when they study "21st Century Literature" on their I-SCOOL Apps in 2050.
This book has a lot in common with "1984", "Brave New World", and "Envy" - and any other biggies of the literary dystopian future I may have forgotten. Like 1984 it's partly diary driven. Like "Brave New World" it has the most liberal sexual morality this side of whatever the unsupervised 14 year olds down the street are doing tonight. It resembles "Envy" in it's contrast of the deep but failed superfluous man from the old days against "a New Soviet Man"... if that NSM is a technologically sophisticated, media savy, hot Korean Girl.
Shteyngart creates a a fully realized future reality to the point that it confuses the reader with it's strangeness. At the same time this world is a little too recognizable. The trends of our current morality towards a future where it has vanished into promiscuity and texting has been achieved. America's economic Armageddon resulting from the National debt and outsourcing of all productive means to pay off that debt has drawn neigh. And if the machine singularity predicted by Kurzweil hasn't come to pass, the marketing singularity has. See SSTLS for further details.
Yet there are some things that stay constant in the future: the family is still a source of neurosis, love and who we are. True love, as the title suggests, is a need that still can arise even in the sickest soil of the future. And an argument for the gold standard has got to be in this thing somewhere.
I love this book and am sincere in thinking it a classic. The only thing holding me back from certainty in this conviction is the ending... which, frankly, was a little anti-climactic for me. The book was, maybe, one chapter too long. On the other hand, this "failing" might be another point in it's favor. Unlike 1984 it doesn't end with a punchline and the tendentious push to immediately notice what you have just read in the world around you... and then buy war bonds.* It's more like life, where despite calamity, life goes on, at least for some well positioned HNWI's. What's an HNWI? You'll have to read the book to find out... (ok, "High Net Worth Individuals" for those who can't wait). Do it now, while there are still books and while you don't need yuan to buy them.
