In Search of Melancholy Baby
New York: Random House, 1987. First edition. Stated. Hardcover. 227, [2] p. DJ is price clipped. Here the acclaimed Russian emigre novelist Vassily Aksyonov offers an exuberant chronicle of his encounters with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as he makes the United States his home. One of the leading Soviet writers of his generation--and one of the most popular--Aksyonov captured the spirit of Russia's Western-oriented youth in the sixties and their celebration of American culture. In 1980, he was forced to emigrate when his masterwork, The Burn, was published in the West. Now he compares America in the flesh to the mythical America of the Russian imagination. He follows American politics, offering hilarious commentary on presidential campaigns, teaches Russian literature to "The children of suburbia," scorns the bohemian life in New York, becomes an avid Redskins fan, and relishes the European charm and pointed contradictions of life in the nation's capital, where he and his wife finally hang their hats. Most of all, however, Aksyonov celebrates the endless variety of American life, and through his eyes, even the "notoriously checked trousers and flower-laden hats" of the elderly become signs of vibrancy rather than bad taste. As Aksyonov is "sucked into the great big wonderful world of American provincialism," we learn a great deal about Russian preconceptions--and a great deal about ourselves. In his latest and most surprising novel, Alexander Korbach--a singer/composer/playwright adored by the counterculture in Moscow and reviled by the Communist powers-that-were--comes to the United States to start over and to search for new ways of pursuing his art. No one is at the airport to meet him. O, Well. Sasha soon discovers that he's a distant cousin of a rich American retailer with an elegant flagship store in New York, But before he can "capitalize" on this connection, Sasha has to work as a garage attendant in Santa Monica, deal with his Russian ex-wife, face down the KGB, get in bed with the KGB, and drink a goodly portion of vodka now and again (and again). With his inimitably hilarious and melancholy sensibility, Vassily Aksyonov draws a sharp portrait of a flawed but resilient hero who wanders through his new homeland in search of happiness and an audience for his work. It's a perfect, wise vision of a world that somehow manages to grow smaller and crazier with every passing day. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Emigre, Novelist, Tanglewood, Provincialism, American Dream, Pursuit of Happiness, Popular Culture
ISBN: 9780394543642
[Book #60703]
Price: $45.00