The Good Life Elsewhere
Published on 2. October 2019
204 pages
978-1-939931-00-9 (ISBN)
Description
A group of adventurous villagers attempt to escape Moldova for Italy in this "outstanding... darkly hilarious" novel of poverty and hope in Eastern Europe (
The Wall Street Journal).
The Moldovian village of Larga is depressed in more ways than one and its remaining citizens long for a better life. Meanwhile, just over the border in Italy, the economy is booming. But when a group of Largans decide to take fate into their own hands and attempt to cross the border, their efforts result in a tragicomic romp of post-Soviet shenanigans.
In this "simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking tale," an Orthodox priest is deserted by his wife for an art-dealing atheist; a mechanic redesigns his tractor for travel by air and sea; thousands of villagers take to the road on a modern-day religious crusade to make it to the promised land of Italy; meanwhile, politicians remain politicians ( Publishers Weekly).
"A touching and hilarious chronicle about the age-old European yearning for one more chance. A chance that may never come." -Gary Shteyngart
The Moldovian village of Larga is depressed in more ways than one and its remaining citizens long for a better life. Meanwhile, just over the border in Italy, the economy is booming. But when a group of Largans decide to take fate into their own hands and attempt to cross the border, their efforts result in a tragicomic romp of post-Soviet shenanigans.
In this "simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking tale," an Orthodox priest is deserted by his wife for an art-dealing atheist; a mechanic redesigns his tractor for travel by air and sea; thousands of villagers take to the road on a modern-day religious crusade to make it to the promised land of Italy; meanwhile, politicians remain politicians ( Publishers Weekly).
"A touching and hilarious chronicle about the age-old European yearning for one more chance. A chance that may never come." -Gary Shteyngart
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Vladimir Lorchenkov
The Good Life Elsewhere
Book
03/2014
New Vessel Press
€14.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Vladimir Lorchenkov, writer and journalist, was born in Chisinau, Moldova, the son of a Soviet army officer, in 1979. In his childhood he traveled across the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, including Transbaikal, the Arctic, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Hungary, Mongolia. When his family returned to Moldova, he studied journalism and for ten years was in charge of crime coverage at a local newspaper. Lorchenkov is a laureate of the 2003 Debut Prize, one of Russia's highest honors given to young writers, the Russia Prize in 2008, and was short-listed for the National Bestseller Prize in 2012. Lorchenkov has published a dozen books, and his work has been translated into German, Italian, Norwegian, Finnish, Serbo-Croatian and Finnish. He is married with two children, and still lives in his hometown.Ross Ufberg is a translator, writer, and a PhD Candidate at Columbia University in the Slavic Department. His work has appeared in various magazines and newspapers. His translation of the autobiography of Marek Hlasko, Beautiful Twentysomethings, was published in 2013.
Content
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
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