{"product_id":"9781950539642","title":"Rubble of Rubles","description":"Author: Josip Novakovich\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781950539642\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Dzanc Books\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 01 Jun 2023\u003cbr\u003ePages: 200\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom Man Booker International Prize finalist Josip Novakovich comes a satiric novel with teeth-a tale of Russia in the early aughts, perfect for fans of Dostoevsky and Gary Shteyngart.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this picaresque novel set in the early 2000s, David, an investment banker with Eastern European roots, goes bankrupt from the Enron fiasco, and moves to Russia to do some soul-searching. In the shadow of the Khazan cathedral, he's arrested for the murder of two Georgian wine-importers. David is imprisoned at Kresty, bewildered and alone. One day, Putin himself visits, with a modest proposal for David: to travel to Georgia and slip plutonium into the president's wine. This is the price of freedom: to assassinate a president.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold with Josip Novakovich\u0026amp;#x27;s signature skill and satiric wit, \u003ci\u003eRubble of Rubles\u003c\/i\u003e delves into the absurdity and menace of totalitarianism. At the crossroads of literary fiction, satire, and crime, this is a novel for modern fans of \u003ci\u003eNotes from Underground\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAbsurdistan.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;Throughout the madcap plotting, a pervasive sense of menace never dissipates. An international comedy of errors that ventures to knowingly bleak places.\u0026amp;#x27; - \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e starred review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;In vertiginous scenes that evoke Kafka, Dostoyevsky, and \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlice in Wonderland\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, the police and prison officials subject David to extortion, drugging, and interrogation, and even Putin himself gets a cartoonish and nightmarish cameo. Not only is this sickeningly surreal, it's a hell of a ride.\u0026amp;#x27; - \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e starred review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;Josip Novakovich's latest novel is a tour deforce that exposes the complete corruption of the Russian police and legal system under Putin. David Dvornik is an insomniac, former investment banker, Russophile, amateur historian, and ex graduate student from Yale, who uses sarcasm and farce to describe the absurdity of his daily life in Saint Petersburg. Novakovich turns the idea of\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCrime and Punishment\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eon its head. Rather than the inevitable capture of the guilty, we see the inevitable punishment of the innocent.\u0026amp;#x27; - Josh Barkan, author of\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMexico: Stories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;Crime and the lack of punishment - Josip Novakovich conjures up a picture of Saint Petersburg that would terrify Dostoevsky.\u0026amp;#x27; - Tibor Fischer, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnder the Frog\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;Rubble of Rubbles\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e shows Josip Novakovich at his best.I know of no other writer who knows how to ridicule the ridiculous and find meaning in the seemingly meaningless. This is a comic novel with serious content, rich in dark humor and startling cultural insights.\u0026amp;#x27; - Jim Heynen, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe One-Room Schoolhouse\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;This novel took hold of me from the beginning and never let go. Kafkaesque for the first two-thirds, and then something else. I am not sure what: maybe a bit of the Wizard of Oz, and a bit Hitchcock, with a happy ending. I shall never think of Russia the same way, or of Georgian wine. A timely book filled with humor and twists and turns.\u0026amp;#x27; - Robert Appelbaum, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTerrorism Before the Letter: Mythography and Political Violence in England, Scotland, and France 1559-1642\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;In a thrilling mix of an adventure novel and satire, Novakovich provides us with a fresh glimpse into that horrifying and mysterious Russian soul. So relevant that it's scary!\u0026amp;#x27; - Lara Vapnyar, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDivide Me By Zero\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;Josip Novakovich\u0026amp;#x27;s narrative style - powerfully direct, crisply precise, bluntly confident without arrogance - is instantly recognizable and entirely sui generis. No single sentence goes to waste in his texts, no word a throwaway one. His prose resonates with distant rhythms of faraway histories. He is one of the preeminent storytellers of our time - and one of the very best we have. In this remarkable, highly immersive novel, set inearly-aughts Russia poised on the cusp of becoming the moral catastrophe of a state it is today, his satire is cutting and unswerving, his gaze steadfast and uncommonly, uncannily observant.\u0026amp;#x27; - Mikhail Iossel, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEvery Hunter Wants to Know\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46867133431966,"sku":"ADS-9781950539642","price":29.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781950539642.jpg?v=1779430711","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781950539642","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}