First published 2007
Misha Vainberg weighs 325 pounds and calls himself "Snack Daddy." His father ranks as Russia's 1,238th richest man and just murdered an Oklahoma businessman, killing Misha's chances for a U.S. visa. Misha wants nothing more than to return to his hot Latina girlfriend in the South Bronx. His salvation appears in Absurdistan, a tiny oil-rich nation where a corrupt consular officer promises to sell him a Belgian passport. But civil war erupts between competing ethnic groups, and a local warlord appoints the hapless Misha as minister of multicultural affairs. Suddenly Misha finds himself covered in oil and fighting for his life in a country he never wanted to visit. As the conflict escalates around him, he falls in love again and struggles to understand whether normal life remains possible in the modern world. Misha becomes an unlikely hero caught between his privileged past and an uncertain future.
Genres: fiction, contemporary, comedy, 21st-century
Vibes: darkly-humorous, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unlikely-hero
Setting: Absurdistan, Oklahoma, South Bronx
Period: 21st-century
Paperback · Granta Books