Additional information
by David Bezmozgis (Author)
Now a Major Motion Picture
A dazzling debut--and a publishing phenomenon--Natasha: And Other Stories is the tender, savagely funny collection from a young immigrant who has taken the critics by storm.Few readers had heard of David Bezmozgis before May 2003, when Harper's, Zoetrope, and The New Yorker all printed stories from his forthcoming collection. In the space of a few weeks, America thus met the Bermans--Bella and Roman and their son, Mark--Russian Jews who have fled the Riga of Brezhnev for Toronto, the city of their dreams. Told through Mark's eyes, the stories in Natasha possess a serious wit and uniquely Jewish perspective that recall the first published stories of Bernard Malamud and Philip Roth, not to mention the work of Jhumpa Lahiri, Nathan Englander, and Adam Haslett. Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' First Book Prize for Canada and the Caribbean, the Toronto Book Award, Reform Judaism Prize for Jewish Fiction, Koffler Centre of the Arts' Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction, the City of Toronto Book Award, the Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize for Fiction, and the Moment Magazine Fiction Award Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and the Governor General's Award for Literature, the Danuta Gleed Literary Award for Best First Collection of Short Fiction in the English Language Named a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year, a Los Angeles Times' 1 of the 25 Best Books of the Year, a New York Public Library's 25 Best Books to Remember, and a Chicago Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year
Back Jacket
A New York Times Notable Book, 2004
"Scary good...Not a line or note in the book rings false."--"Esquire
One of the 25 Best Books of the Year, Los Angeles Times
Winner, Reform Judaism Prize for Jewish Fiction
Shortlist, Guardian First Book Award
Shortlist, Governor-General's Award
Meet the Bermans-Bella, Roman and their son, Mark-who have fled the Riga of Brezhnev for Toronto, the city of their dreams. Told through Mark's eyes, the stories in Natasha possess serious wit, in a solid literary debut from one of the freshest Jewish voices since Saul Bellow-or Lenny Bruce.
"An authority one usually finds only in more seasoned writers." --Meghan O'Rourke," The New York Times Book Review
"An effervescent debut...A familiar tale of dislocation and assimilation with enough humor, honesty, and courage to make it new again...If the last page of 'Tapka' doesn't stop your heart, maybe it was never really beating."--"O Magazine
"Deft...humane but unblinkingly unsentimental...Bezmozgis'...fine stories...are thick with memorable characters." --John Biguenet," Chicago Tribune
"Dazzling, hilarious and hugely compassionate narratives [written with] freshness and precision...Readers will find themselves laughing out loud, then gasping as Bezmozgis brings these fictions to the searing, startling and perfectly pitched conclusions that remind us that, as Babel said, 'no iron can stab the heart so powerfully as a period put in exactly the right place.'" --Francine Prose, "People Magazine
"Passionately full of life . . . Often ebullient and warmly comic...[Bezmozgis has] considerable talents." --James Wood, "London Review of Books
David Bezmozgis was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1973. In 1980 he immigrated with his parents to Toronto, where he lives today. This is his first book.
Author Biography
David Bezmozgis (Bez-MOZE-ghis) was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1973. In 1980 he immigrated with his parents to Toronto, where he lives today. Natasha is his first book.
