Reader Score
69%
69% of readers
recommend this book
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 4 reviews on
Shortly after his thirtieth birthday, John Turner receives a call from an old college friend who makes him an odd job offer: move to Ukraine to teach customer service agents at a start-up how to sound American. John's never been to Ukraine, doesn't speak Ukrainian, and is supposed to be a journalist, not a consultant. But having just gone through a breakup and still grieving his father's death, it might just be the new start he's been looking for.
In Ukraine, John understands very little--the language and social customs are impenetrable to him. At work, his employees are fluent in English but have difficulty grasping the concept of "small talk." And although he told himself not to get romantically involved while abroad, he can't help but be increasingly drawn to one of his colleagues.
Most distressing, however, is the fact that John can hear, through their shared wall, his neighbor beating his wife. Desperate to help, John offers the neighbor 100,000 hryvnias to stop. It's a plan born out of the best intentions, but one that has disastrous repercussions that no amount of money or altruism can solve.
"[A] biting comedy" (Vanity Fair) that calls to mind Garth Greenwell's What Belongs to You, Calling Ukraine reimagines the American-abroad novel. Moving effortlessly between the comic and the tragic, Johannes Lichtman deploys his signature wry humor and startling moral insight to illuminate the inevitable complexities of doing right by others.
2x Survivor loser. Pushcart Prize-winning writer. Host of the Paraphrase podcast. Your retweets of me are endorsements.
@nicolebc @RobHasApodcast Calling Ukraine by johannes lichtman!
Since 1846, publisher of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Jesmyn Ward, Anthony Doerr, Jennifer Egan, Siddhartha Mukherjee, & more.
Catch @Johaaaaaannes Lichtman on tour for new novel #CallingUkraine! More on the book here: https://t.co/cdte2vTk8r https://t.co/1PRb89sllh
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We’re excited to share that DC Writers Room member Johannes Lichtman’s new novel, Calling Ukraine, comes out today. Be sure to pick up your copy, and to set your calendar for Lichtman’s local events at Hill Center (April 13) and Politics & Prose (April 29). https://t.co/EScw7WiVOn
"Lichtman [is] a remarkable thinker and social satirist...Such Good Work introduces a writer who is willing to openly contradict himself, to stand corrected, to honor both men and women, to ask sincere questions and let them ring unanswered." --THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Lichtman's low-key treatment of two highly charged subjects is refreshing."--KIRKUS REVIEWS
"[An] excellent and timely debut. Lichtman expertly infuses his multicontinental narrative with humor and humanity...[Jonas'] heartfelt actions stick with the reader in this winning novel."--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Such Good Work is...wary of affectation or grandstanding; it works small, as if from a sense of modesty, a reluctance to presume; it cuts sincerity with the driest of humor."--THE NEW YORKER