Back to Moscow - Hardcover

Guillermo Erades

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1471149277 ISBN 13: 9781471149276

Publisher: Scribner UK, 2016

Synopsis

Recalling the open-hearted honesty of Ben Lerner and the whisky-sour satire of Bret Easton Ellis, Back to Moscow is a dazzlingly original, witty and ultimately haunting debut. The early 2000s, and Moscow is storming into the century as money and an assertive political elite rise to power. Months after his arrival, expat student Martin hasn't written a word of his thesis on the heroines of the Russian classics because the cheap, bright lure of nightclubs, vodka and real women is predictably hard to resist. He finds himself torn between opposing sensibilities: on the one hand, the limpid appeal of Lena, and her insistence on the Mysterious Russian Soul; on the other, that of his research supervisor Lyudmila Aleksandrovna - diligent, serious, caught in the shadow of a soviet past. Can the fates of Anna Karenina, Pushkin's Tatyana or Chekhov's three sisters help him understand the women in his life? Martin's restless explorations turn into a half-grasped search for meaning as Moscow leads him to dark and unexpected places tinged by Russia's ever-present sense of impending tragedy.

About this title

About the Author:

Guillermo Erades was born in Malaga, Spain and has lived in Leeds, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Moscow, Berlin, Baghdad and Brussels, where he is currently based. Back to Moscow is his first novel.

Review:

'Powerful . . . an ambitious debut which . . . chronicles an individual's struggle to lead a meaningful life' -- Max Liu, The Independent on Back to Moscow 'Russia's capital is the most dynamic character in Erades's boozy bildungsroman . . . readers will appreciate the texture and detail Erades gives to Moscow' * Publishers Weekly on Back to Moscow * 'A coming-of-age novel set in Moscow, Erades' debut plays with tropes of student life, literary devotion, and travel. . . . Erades' structure mimics the movement of Martin through the city, through his life?always yearning yet not always heading in the right direction. An appealingly chaotic?if familiar?look at the inner life of a young 'intellectual'' * Kirkus Reviews on Back to Moscow * 'With hints of Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, notes of Gary Shteyngart, and a shadow of Masha Gessen, Erades's first novel is part frothy concoction and part deadly hemlock. As confident as a reality TV show, the story begs to read in one sitting' * Library Journal on Back to Moscow * 'Back to Moscow is a lively and engaging work. Erades develops Martin from being careless with his relationships to finally appreciating a stable one . . . The tone and feel of much of this recalls . . . Henry Miller's novels Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn' -- Ross Southernwood, Sydney Morning Herald on Back to Moscow 'One of the book's strongest suits is its snapshot of Moscow as it descends into the Putin-era free-for-all. Erades shows how the rise of the oligarchs with their `black humvees and whores' supplants the equally dark Soviet past, bringing economic chaos and moral uncertainty . . . Erades makes this kind of contemplative fiction look easy' -- Jude Cook, Litro on Back to Moscow '[A] cleverly satisfying first novel . . . Back to Moscow is quite an imaginative trip' -- Charles Larson, CounterPunch on Back to Moscow 'Erades has written the rare novel whose last paragraphs offer up a genuine epiphany, wholly earned and wholly unexpected. With its final gesture, the story reveals its true shape. It's an act of magic, one I can't stop thinking about' -- Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Illumination 'Erades savours the sweetness and cruelty of conquest with a candour that rivals that of Milan Kundera. And as Martin's luck falters, Erades tumbles his hero into a sentimental education with a slyness worthy of Chekhov' -- Caleb Crain, author of Necessary Errors 'Elegant and dramatic - my favourite kind of company. Back to Moscow is a book to get lost in, like a city. A rich and deeply charming debut' -- Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals 'The novel reaches a powerful denouement . . . An ambitious debut which, like the classics Martin reads, chronicles an individual's struggle to lead a meaningful life' * Independent on Sunday *

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner UK
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1471149277
• ISBN 13: 9781471149276
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384