Snow White and Russian Red - Dorota Maslowska

Snow White and Russian Red
Written by Dorota Maslowska
Translated from the Polish by Benjamin Paloff
Illustrations by Krzysztof Ostrowski

A searing, audacious, and darkly comic novel from a new literary voice of international importance, Snow White and Russian Red is a fresh and surprising portrait of marginalized, fatalistic post-Communist youth. It is the story of Andrzej "Nails" Robakoski and his unraveling after his girlfriend Magda dumps him. A tracksuited slacker, Nails spends most of his time doing little more than searching for his next girl, next line of speed, next proof for his conspiracy theories about the Polish economy. A xenophobic campaign against the proliferating Russian black market escalates, culminating in No Russkies Day--or is that just in Nails's fevered mind? By turns poetic, hilarious, disturbing, and dirty, Snow White and Russian Red is a powerful portrait of love, hopelessness, and political burnout in today's Eastern Europe.

When Snow White and Russian Red was first published, it became a controversial, acclaimed best seller in both Poland and Germany, and is now an international sensation, with rights sold in ten languages. Dorota Maslowska's audacious debut novel establishes her as a new young literary voice of international importance. It is a stunning accomplishment, particularly since its author was nineteen when it was originally published.

"Wojna polsko-ruska pod flagq bialo-czerwong was published in 2002 by a small, independent publishing house and deservedly made its author, nineteen-year-old Dorota Maslowska, a huge success, despite the badly depressed book market in Poland. . . Just like Irish writers like Flann O'Brian and Brendan Behan wrote in a colorful Dublin vernacular rarely actually met in Dublin, so too has Maslowska created a literary language which is both uniquely hers and immediately familiar."
ROBERT LOOBY, Slavic and East European Journal

"Angry, expletive-packed, wildly energetic. . . It's a grim-gruff gumbo of Lukas Moodyson's Lilya-4-Ever, Brett Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero, and the films of Gaspar Noe. . . The talented Maslowska keeps a soaring pace and, with abundant trademark mordant Polish humour, has crafter a novel that speaks of the 'other' contemporary Warsaw as Hubert Selby Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn spoke of NY in the '50s. Brilliant!"
UNCUT (UK)

DOROTA MASLOWSKA (1983 - ) is the recipient of the prestigious Polityka Prize. Her first novel, Snow White and Russian Red has been sold in eleven languages. She lives in Warsaw.

Publishing House: Black Cat, New York 2005
SoftCover book measuring 5.5" x 8.25"
304 pages, b/w comic illustrations
English Language Version

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