Little Failure

'How will I ever measure up to the gentle, smiling giants strolling this land who launch their cars like cosmonauts into the infinite American sky and who live like lords in their castles?'In 1979 seven-year-old Gary Shteyngart and his parents left the Soviet Union for the consumerist paradise of America. As good Russian Jews, Gary's parents were determined that he make something of himself. As a diminutive asthmatic with a runny nose, Gary knew his was to be a life of spectacular...
More Description

'How will I ever measure up to the gentle, smiling giants strolling this land who launch their cars like cosmonauts into the infinite American sky and who live like lords in their castles?'In 1979 seven-year-old Gary Shteyngart and his parents left the Soviet Union for the consumerist paradise of America. As good Russian Jews, Gary's parents were determined that he make something of himself. As a diminutive asthmatic with a runny nose, Gary knew his was to be a life of spectacular disappointments. He wasn't wrong. In Little Failure he reveals how, by ending up a prize-winning novelist, he visited great shame on his family.'Dazzling, exquisitely charted. Time spent with Shteyngart is like being with Woody Allen on speed: razor-sharp, funny and deeply moving.' Mail on Sunday'Frenetically funny, overwhelmingly enjoyable.' Financial Times'Terrific, hilarious, beautiful and revealing - Shteyngart's funniest, saddest and most honest work to date.' Guardian'Seriously funny.' Daily Telegraph'Witty, heartbreaking and irrepressibly funny. Hilarious.' Observer'Hilarious and moving.' New York Times'Terrific.' Sunday Times