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city of Prava / Prague, referred to in the book as "the Paris of the 90s". He asks for
Vladimir's assistance in obtaining full citizenship to the United States, and offers Vladimir compensation (presumably obtained from the Groundhog's business dealings). Vladimir is encouraging but quickly dismisses
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for the
Groundhog, operating under the misnomer PravaInvest. Using his knowledge of English and portraying himself as a wealthy business man, he runs his scam on the significant North American expatriate population living in Prava, including a substantial student population. Vladimir quickly becomes
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He goes out drinking with his friend Baobab one night, where he meets a young woman named
Francesca, who comes from a wealthy family and has attended a prestigious university. Vladimir inserts himself into her social scene and enjoys the attention that comes from being a Russian Jew in such gentile
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and posing as Baobab's boss's son for a college interview. Vladimir readily agrees, despite the deception involved, and finds himself in Miami with Baobab's boss Jordi. Jordi attempts to have sex with
Vladimir, who flees in terror and secures a flight back to New York. On the way to the airport,
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With help from Baobab's actress girlfriend, Vladimir is able to stage a false naturalization ceremony for Mr. Rybakov back in New York. Immediately thereafter, Vladimir is whisked to Prava as the
Groundhog's favored son. Once there, Vladimir proves himself quite resourceful and establishes a
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society. Vladimir lives with
Francesca and her family for several months. Dating Francesca stretches Vladimir's limited means to such a degree that he is forced to borrow money, first from his parents, and then from Mr. Rybakov. Baobab informs Vladimir that he can get $ 20,000 by going to
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to beat him. Vladimir is upset by this and plans an escape from the hospital and from Prava with the help of
Frantisek and Morgan. After a lengthy pursuit, Vladimir arrives safely at the airport and goes back to America with Morgan.
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Things seem to be going quite well for
Vladimir with the help of his friend Frantisek, who helps to create a false PravaInvest film to secure "investments" for the
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The novel opens on the 25th birthday of its protagonist, Vladimir
Girshkin. Vladimir is a Jewish immigrant whose family moved from
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won the
Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction, the Book-of-the-Month Club First Fiction Award and the
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an important figure to these students, and begins dating a young girl from
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Baobab informs Vladimir that Jordi is an important figure in a Catalan
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The novel and its author are parodied in Shteyngart's second novel,
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and in the European city of Prava (a pseudonym for Prague).
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who would happily kill Vladimir over such a slip-up.
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The Creative Writing Program at Columbia University
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361:National Jewish Book Award winners
319:snapshot 2011-05-13 at archive.org
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20:The Russian Debutante's Handbook
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132:The Russian Debutante's Handbook
162:The Russian Arriviste's Handjob
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16:2002 novel by Gary Shteyngart
183:for Fiction. It was named a
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300:"Gary Shteyngart - Faculty"
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181:National Jewish Book Award
341:Novels by Gary Shteyngart
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276:"Past Winners - Fiction"
351:Novels set in Prague
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280:Jewish Book Council
31:First edition cover
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314:2012-12-15
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262:References
139:by author
255:skinheads
244:Cleveland
149:Manhattan
70:Riverhead
67:Publisher
123:52723378
47:Language
135:is the
51:English
205:Russia
172:Awards
98:496 pp
37:Author
226:Miami
213:mafia
160:, as
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61:Novel
57:Genre
199:Plot
117:OCLC
104:ISBN
80:2002
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