Little Failure – A Memoir

I have enjoyed everything Shteyngart has written, and while much of his work (particularly the early novels) is marked by a strong autobiographical influence, it is definitely worth reading Little Failure. It was perhaps rendered all the more interesting to me given the Gunz family background of immigrants seeking assimilation in a new country and their confidence subsequently growing over time. There is also the novelty in learning, for the first time, about the grains-for-brains deal brokered by Jimmy Carter, which resulted in a flow of Russian immigrants to the U.S. Above all, however, Little Failure is a great read simply because it is very funny. Shteyngart writes with a wonderful sense of self-deprecation but conveys his trauma from the perspective of knowing now that he has become the inverse of failure. Adversity was overcome, and even though Shteyngart may have struggled in many other ways, there was always his enduring knowledge that he had an ability to write. I also found interesting his changing relationship with his parents and how they struggled to adapt to their son's eventual fame. Overall, this is a love story, albeit a reluctant one between parents and their children, and vice versa. N/R.

By Gary Shteyngart