Super Sad True Love Story

A Novel

By: Gary Shteyngart

Narrated by: Ali Ahn, Adam Grupper

Gary Shteyngart, author of The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, creates a compelling reality in this tale about an illiterate America in the not-too-distant future. Lenny Abramov may just be penning the world’s last diary. Which is good, because while falling in love with a rather unpleasant woman and witnessing the fall of a great empire, Lenny has a lot to write about.

©2010 Gary Shteyngart (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Shteyngart's earnestly struggling characters—along with a flurry of running gags—keep the nightmare tour of tomorrow grounded. A rich commentary on the obsessions and catastrophes of the information age and a heartbreaker worthy of its title, this is Shteyngart's best yet." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Full-tilt and fulminating satirist Shteyngart is mordant, gleeful, and embracive as he funnels today's follies and atrocities into a devilishly hilarious, soul-shriveling, and all-too plausible vision of a ruthless and crass digital dystopia in which techno-addled humans are still humbled by love and death." ( Booklist)

“It’s not easy to summarize Shteyngart; there’s so much satirical gunpowder packed into every sentence that the effect gets lost in the short version. But basically, this is a love story [that is] ridiculously witty and painfully prescient, but more than either of those, it’s romantic." ( Time)

Hard to continue after first half...

Not because the first half was so much better than the second...for the exact opposite reason. In other words, because I realized nothing major, climactic, "more," was going to happen...which perhaps was the goal of the author but it did make for a frustrating, at times boring story to listen to driving through endless Texas. I found the idea very interesting (and that is why I downloaded the book). I also thought it was well said and it had some high points, again, mostly in the beginning when the author describes the world...sometimes it was even funny. BUT the characters, well, the main character in particular, Lenny, was so painfully annoying...I don't need "likeable" characters to like a story (If you used to watch Nip/Tuck, well, none of the characters was remotely like-able, yet the show was great)...I can't pin point what it was that I hated about Lenny...Perhaps his infatuation with a much younger girl who looked like a pre-pubescent girl (based on the description)? The fact that he was more superficial than his boss but he didn't seem to think so cause he read books? I don't know...all I know is that the only parts that were interesting and would not lose my attention by a cactus outside my car window were the "girl" monologues...That reader was absolutely awesome and I'd like to thank her from the bottom of my heart for bringing Eunice to life...maybe it was because of the reader that I thought Eunice's character was much better developed than Lenny's ...She was a horribly damaged and disturbed person but I'd listen to her over Lenny any day. And as I mentioned before, NOTHING happens...ever!!! Even when major events do take place, nothing happens! Nothing (Sorry I just had a deja vu arguing about this with my boyfriend while we were driving...I was trying to convince him to throw this audio cd out the window)

(PS. the three stars are for the concept of the story, the few interesting satires/current reality references, and the Eunice character reader)

Fabulous Listen!

I loved this book...I think I loved it more because I listened to it, which isn't always the case. The narrators are absolutely perfect and the story is just as promised - super sad, but also hilarious.

Super Sad Future

This book depressed me. I enjoyed it thoroughly but it hit me unexpectedly because it had so many elements that are or soon to be very true to life. The vapid, media-driven, illiterate, attention starved populace, unable to truly connect, chained to status and narcissism, with their heads stuck in hand-held devices, awash in data, streams and rankings. The story is saved by the unlikely coupling of Len and Eunice, Ill-fated as it was and a brief recognition of the possible value of family above all. A good book, deeper than I thought it would be. Ahn and Grupper did great jobs as the main characters. A very good book.

Ramblin'...and Ramblin' on...

I have no unusual insights to add, but Shteyngart falls short on two counts: the title of this book is inane, and the ending makes it a "Super Trite" True Love Story - I won't spoil it but Lenny's end is really overdone, overrated, and typical of most examples of narcissistic entitlement.

My usual critiques apply here: too much about characters and situations that are not interesting, and not enough about the people who really do have something interesting to offer. I don't think "Eunice" - or "Yew-niss" as the narrator says it, or "UNIS" like some weird acronym - is very appealing at all. What does she offer?? Just pretty-ness? Whatever it is she's got, this book ignores it. I loved that the Italian actresses mocked her.

Still Gary Shteyngart managed to keep me entertained and laughing, and also depressed at times. I look forward to "verbal"-ing about this with friends and family, and streaming on our "operati".

Witty, Frustrating, Heartbreaking.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, but with caveats. I love; satire, sciency fiction, distopian visions of the future, and apocalyptic scenarios. I'm also not afraid of wading through some pretty depressing and unrelenting stories. If that is you than this story might be right up your ally. P.S. His characters were a little two dimensional but I wouldn't get hung up on that, the story is really good.

What did you like best about this story?

My favorite aspect of the story was the ideas about life extension, death, and wealth. He did an excellent job of delving into the realities a society might face when approaching the real possibility of technology that can increase lifespan. (I mean technically we're already there with respect to increasing lifespans across the world.)

Have you listened to any of Ali Ahn and Adam Grupper ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time listener to these readers. The experience was without any flaws that I can recall.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This story occasionally made me feel hopeless and angry. It is certainly not uplifting, but few stories with an ounce of truth are.