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The Most Excellent Immigrant
A lost antique pillow contains pearls, valuable by themselves. But what makes them even more precious is that they are the main ingredient of the elixir of youth. A certified interpreter of dreams and afflictions known affectionately as Deda fights a charming con woman Penelopa and her clueless sidekick Piotr for their possession. A few more human and not-so-human creatures are ready to kill for it. Every character in these twenty-two interlinked stories collection is an immigrant from a place real or imaginary.
Magic realism/immigrant fiction.
Magic realism/immigrant fiction.
138 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2022
1 person is currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Mark Budman
41 books41 followersI’m a first-generation immigrant. My novel “My Life at First Try” was published by Counterpoint Press. I have published two short story collections with Livingston Press and two anthologies with Ooligan Press. My work has been featured in publications including Catapult and the Mississippi Review. My latest collection received a starred review from Kirkus, and Kirkus also named it one of the best books of 2023, and one anthology had an honorable mention in the 2022 Foreword Indies Award.
markbudman.com
A trailer for his anthology "You have Time for This."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBfOw1...
***
Mark Budman’s "My Life at First Try," is smart and funny and compelling, and in an era when both the immigrant experience and the resurgent aggression of the once-Soviet Russia are central issues, the novel is timely, as well. This is a splendid debut by an important new American voice.
Robert Olen Butler, a Pulitzer Prize winner, the author of "Intercourse" and "Severance"
***
A review of "My Life at First Try" in Publishers Weekly.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/artic...
markbudman.com
A trailer for his anthology "You have Time for This."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBfOw1...
***
Mark Budman’s "My Life at First Try," is smart and funny and compelling, and in an era when both the immigrant experience and the resurgent aggression of the once-Soviet Russia are central issues, the novel is timely, as well. This is a splendid debut by an important new American voice.
Robert Olen Butler, a Pulitzer Prize winner, the author of "Intercourse" and "Severance"
***
A review of "My Life at First Try" in Publishers Weekly.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/artic...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 25, 2022
Publication date: October 1, 2022.
'The most excellent' short stories demonstrating the fragility of our reality.
In The Most Excellent Immigrant, Mark Budman presents a collection based on magical realism and immigrants' experiences.
It's hard to describe what the book is about. On the surface, it's two parallel, sometimes crisscrossing each other plotlines: one of an older man who looks after his grandchildren and works half-time; another traces down the adventures of Piotr and Penelopa, two recent immigrants, on the treasure hunt. The first story-within-the-story is slow-paced, focusing more not on the outside events but on the life lived and feelings of the man (who doesn't have a name). The second, if the flair of modernity is added, reminds me of The Twelve Chairs by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov. When the reader starts to think he/she/they understand what is going on, in both plotlines, the story skyrockets into surrealism and magical realism.
I still don't know if I like this kind of magic. My rejection is partly caused by my inability to find solid ground for comprehension. I want the story to be predictable and have a logical conclusion. Moreover, the book's prose differs from anything I've read before. It feels like being stroked the wrong way. I thought of DNFing the book after the first chapter, but I couldn't stop reading it when I finally conquered the wave.
I recommend The Most Excellent Immigrant to other readers so they can decide whether they like the story or not.
Thank you to the author for the ARC. All opinions and views are solely my own.
'The most excellent' short stories demonstrating the fragility of our reality.
In The Most Excellent Immigrant, Mark Budman presents a collection based on magical realism and immigrants' experiences.
It's hard to describe what the book is about. On the surface, it's two parallel, sometimes crisscrossing each other plotlines: one of an older man who looks after his grandchildren and works half-time; another traces down the adventures of Piotr and Penelopa, two recent immigrants, on the treasure hunt. The first story-within-the-story is slow-paced, focusing more not on the outside events but on the life lived and feelings of the man (who doesn't have a name). The second, if the flair of modernity is added, reminds me of The Twelve Chairs by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov. When the reader starts to think he/she/they understand what is going on, in both plotlines, the story skyrockets into surrealism and magical realism.
I still don't know if I like this kind of magic. My rejection is partly caused by my inability to find solid ground for comprehension. I want the story to be predictable and have a logical conclusion. Moreover, the book's prose differs from anything I've read before. It feels like being stroked the wrong way. I thought of DNFing the book after the first chapter, but I couldn't stop reading it when I finally conquered the wave.
I recommend The Most Excellent Immigrant to other readers so they can decide whether they like the story or not.
Thank you to the author for the ARC. All opinions and views are solely my own.
August 17, 2022
Bs”d The Most Excellent Immigrant is a collection of stories you might think have no chance to interconnect, but hey! What a joy it is at the end when they all do.
Deda, an aging Russian Immigrant also known as Grandfather or The Interpreter of Dreams and Afflictions or The Most Excellent Immigrant, works as a medical interpreter in a place of sick and dying people, mostly from his computer at home. The other task that falls to him is to care for his twin granddaughters (so their parents can go to work).
Here is a sample of their conversation:
“What are tombstones?”
“The stones that mark the place where the dead people lie.”
“What is dead?”
“Someone who can’t walk or eat ice cream or build castles from blocks or read to a child or write fiction. It happens to old and sick people.”
The other twin says, “Why aren’t you dead, deda? You’re old.”
“Because I have to drive you. If you have responsibilities, you’re not allowed to be sick or die.”
“When we learn how to drive, will you die?”
Deda is contemplating this. According to the mirror, he is still young and handsome. But that might be a fairy tale he is too anxious to believe in.
While despair sneaks up on him, the Interpreter finds some very valuable pearls in an old Russian pillow, which he hides even from his family, and this attracts some shady and flamboyant characters to his door.
He concludes that the world is sick, and volunteers to heal it (in 7 easy steps). Pay attention and see how he does it. But watch out—at times you may think he is waxing poetic, but he’s setting you up for a joke:
A white and pink snow of fallen petals covered the backyard of his overpriced condo.
The shady intruders return to convince the Interpreter that the pearls are the one missing ingredient for a long-lost elixir of youth (and so he should hand them over).
All that we know is maybe they are and maybe they aren’t.
I’m not going to tell you.
Deda, an aging Russian Immigrant also known as Grandfather or The Interpreter of Dreams and Afflictions or The Most Excellent Immigrant, works as a medical interpreter in a place of sick and dying people, mostly from his computer at home. The other task that falls to him is to care for his twin granddaughters (so their parents can go to work).
Here is a sample of their conversation:
“What are tombstones?”
“The stones that mark the place where the dead people lie.”
“What is dead?”
“Someone who can’t walk or eat ice cream or build castles from blocks or read to a child or write fiction. It happens to old and sick people.”
The other twin says, “Why aren’t you dead, deda? You’re old.”
“Because I have to drive you. If you have responsibilities, you’re not allowed to be sick or die.”
“When we learn how to drive, will you die?”
Deda is contemplating this. According to the mirror, he is still young and handsome. But that might be a fairy tale he is too anxious to believe in.
While despair sneaks up on him, the Interpreter finds some very valuable pearls in an old Russian pillow, which he hides even from his family, and this attracts some shady and flamboyant characters to his door.
He concludes that the world is sick, and volunteers to heal it (in 7 easy steps). Pay attention and see how he does it. But watch out—at times you may think he is waxing poetic, but he’s setting you up for a joke:
A white and pink snow of fallen petals covered the backyard of his overpriced condo.
The shady intruders return to convince the Interpreter that the pearls are the one missing ingredient for a long-lost elixir of youth (and so he should hand them over).
All that we know is maybe they are and maybe they aren’t.
I’m not going to tell you.
August 24, 2022
The Most Excellent Immigrant by Mark Budman is an interwoven short-story collection narrated by a Russian medical interpreter. The protagonist is a former engineer who is laid off from his job. He now splits his time between helping his wife care for their twin granddaughters and translating meetings between Russian speakers and their doctors or insurance companies. On all accounts, he is a success. He has twelve patents, speaks two languages, and is a published poet. However, he has a slight inferiority complex as his daughter is a doctor and his wife is a retired one.
In his daily routine, he obsesses about regaining his youth. There are several stories about an antique pillow that he buys and some seedy characters who are desperate to get it back. Inside holds pearls that can be ground up and made into a serum to make a person young again. In the end, the concoctions do not work. But the protagonist and his wife know their happiness keeps them young.
These stories show a peek into an immigrant’s life: his dreams, beliefs, family dynamics, fitting into a new life. They are easy to read and can be enjoyed in one sitting. They are worth checking out.
In his daily routine, he obsesses about regaining his youth. There are several stories about an antique pillow that he buys and some seedy characters who are desperate to get it back. Inside holds pearls that can be ground up and made into a serum to make a person young again. In the end, the concoctions do not work. But the protagonist and his wife know their happiness keeps them young.
These stories show a peek into an immigrant’s life: his dreams, beliefs, family dynamics, fitting into a new life. They are easy to read and can be enjoyed in one sitting. They are worth checking out.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews