The Russian Debutante’s Handbook by Gary Shteyngart

I’ve now read 2/3 of Mr. Shteyngart’s works, the other being Super Sad True Love Story, and can say he is consistently good.

His main characters are similar, hapless, awkward men thrown into unusual situations.

In this one, our protagonist is a youngish, low level, immigrant clerk in NYC  who gets embroiled in a series of worlds outside his own, from his low-rent slum apartment to high society New York City to a Russian Mafia outpost.  The writing is amusing and smooth.

My only complaint is that I don’t particularly relate to his main characters, so in the end I am left with a bit of “so what?”,  but the ride is enjoyable.  I believe I’ll tackle his third (Absurdistan) when next I venture into a bookstore with cash in hand.