Absurdistan (novel)

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**Title** **Absurdistan**
First edition cover
Author	Gary Shteyngart
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Random House
Released	2 May 2006
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	352 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 978-1400061969 (first edition, hardback)

Absurdistan is a 2006 novel by Gary Shteyngart. It chronicles the adventures of Misha Vainberg, the 325-pound son of the 1,238th-richest man in Russia, as he struggles to return to his true love in the South Bronx. After Misha's father kills a prominent businessman from Oklahoma, the INS bars the entire Vainberg family entry to the United States, trapping Misha in his native St. Petersburg, which he nostalgically refers to as "St. Leninsburg". After his father is killed by a fellow oligarch, however, Misha is given the opportunity to buy a Belgian pasport off a corrupt diplomat in the ex-Soviet republic Absurdsvanϊ, also known as Absurdistan, whose reputation for oil riches has earned it the title "Norway of the Caspian". Divided between two major ethnic groups, the Sevo and Svanϊ, whose mutual hatred stems from a dispute over which way the "footrest" of the Orthodox cross should be tilted, Absurdistan soon finds itself ensconced in civil war- and Misha forced to take sides on behalf of a new love. Appointed "Minister of Multiculturalism," he is asked to petition Israel for funds, but he soon finds he is being played.

Absurdistan debuted to mainly favorable reviews, including a glowing review by Walter Kirn on the cover of the New York Times Book Review. The same paper's Sunday Book Review listed it as one of the 10 best books of 2006.[1]