The remarkable debut novel from a talented young American writer - now published in paperback. Vladimir is a young Russian-American immigrant whose capitalist dreams and desire for a girlfriend lead him off the straight and narrow into uncharted territory. From the dreary confines of New York City's Emma Lazarus Immigrant Absorption Society to the hip frontier wilderness of Prava; the Eastern European Paris of the nineties, whose grand and glorious beauty is marred only by the shadow of the looming statue of Stalin's foot The Russian Debutante's Handbook is a hilarious, extravagant, yet uncannily true to life adventure. About the Author: Gary Shteyngart was born in Leningrad in 1972 and came to the United States seven years later. He lives in New York City.