From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Katie
Mar 21, 2011 rated it liked it
Shelves: male-author
This book is a futuristic dystopia that had me absolutely terrified for what our world may come to. It takes place in the not so distant future where the United States is a fascist state, China is the new world superpower, and social media and other technologies have taken over. No one reads anymore, and books are considered dirty and smelly. Everyone has these little devices they wear around their necks that seem to be an advanced version of the iphone, constantly sending and recieving data abo ...more
Jessica
I was on the fence about even picking this up, but it turned out to be a good move - Shteyngart has some interesting ideas about what the consequences might be if current trends went to their outer boundaries. While it's clearly dystopian, he plays it more subtly than it might appear on its face - for every "All our base are belong to China," he sneaks in quieter moves like the ultra-casual use of incendiary sexual language between friends and the extra level of intensity communicated when a cha ...more
Lisa
Dec 23, 2010 rated it did not like it
Shelves: read-adults
Not sure why I finished this one. I really disliked it... maybe I just like to live in my own happy world. If this is a premonition I hope I'm dead before the world turns to this. ...more
Nancy
Apr 20, 2011 rated it liked it
Shelves: 2011-read, humor, new-york
Clever, witty and possibly all-too-prescient. I thought the schtick started to drag in the middle and the book would have benefited from being a little shorter.
Jen
Aug 02, 2010 marked it as to-read
Erica
Aug 04, 2010 marked it as to-read
Shelves: fiction
Shannon Wallner
Aug 10, 2010 marked it as to-read
Alyson Zikmund
Aug 15, 2010 rated it liked it
Tiffany
Aug 25, 2010 marked it as to-read
KC
Sep 03, 2010 rated it really liked it
Joerg
Dec 20, 2010 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: fiction-america
Rachel
Jul 02, 2011 rated it liked it
Shelves: fiction
Jackie Wayment
Jul 29, 2011 marked it as to-read
Janna
Sep 23, 2011 marked it as to-read
Sam
Oct 22, 2011 rated it did not like it
Kaley
Oct 23, 2011 marked it as to-read
Rajivi
Nov 07, 2011 rated it did not like it
Telly
Jan 09, 2012 rated it it was ok
Rachel
Feb 29, 2012 rated it really liked it
Shelves: 2012-reads
Jo
Aug 06, 2012 rated it really liked it
Soelo
Aug 17, 2012 marked it as to-read
hannah
Sep 13, 2012 marked it as to-read
Phoebe
Oct 17, 2012 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: u-s, italy, x
Ching-In
Nov 29, 2012 marked it as to-read
Kate
Sep 07, 2014 rated it liked it
Jonathan Kos-Read
Aug 01, 2016 rated it really liked it
Sivan
Aug 10, 2022 marked it as to-read-non-classics
Phoebe
Mar 30, 2023 marked it as to-read
« previous 1 3