My Life at First Try: A Novel [Hardcover]

Mark Budman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2008

This semi-autobiographical debut novel chronicles the life of Alex, born in Siberia in 1950, and his dreams of becoming a writer and of meeting Annie, his distant American cousin. As a child, Alex observes a group of foreign tourists do something that non-drunk Soviet adults seldom do: they laugh. Alex yearns to become one of them—a free and happy foreigner. Those aspirations quickly fade as Alex begins to encounter the absurdities and constraints of living in a society where conformity is institutionalized. Hilarious and sometimes sobering, the book’s short chapters chronicle making it through the army, mastering the English language, sex, and meeting the girl of his dreams. In 1980, Alex and his young family finally get the chance to move to America. There he realizes that he is finally a foreigner—not the happy foreigner of his dream, but an alien. Ultimately, Alex finds his own place in the world, despite the fact that having the right “to vote for an elephant or an ass” does not necessarily guarantee self-fulfillment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This blazingly fast and funny semi-autobiographical novel follows a Russian man's comically earnest pursuit of the American dream. As a child, Alex, living in 1950s Siberia with his parents and grandparents, sees a picture of his American-born second cousin, Annie, and he believes he has found his destiny. Throughout his formative sexual experiences, he fantasizes about Annie, who embodies the exoticness of Western culture and the wholesomeness of the American dream. By the late 1970s, when Alex's parents decide to decamp for the U.S., Alex packs up his wife and their young daughter, too, and after the trio land in upstate New York, Alex goes to work at the IBM-like HAL Corporation while his wife, Lyuba, an internist, takes longer to settle in. At first, Alex is content with his new freedom-loving democratic identity, but as his children grow and Lyuba becomes more independent the dream begins to lose its sheen. The novel is hilarious, eye-opening and, by the end, a little depressing. It's tough not to have Alex's buoyant energy rub off on the reader. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

This debut novel presented in brief stories of fewer than 1000 words is a semiautobiographical account of a Russian Jewish immigrant, Alex, from his childhood in Communist Russia during the 1950s through the present day when he is in his midfifties, settled in Upstate New York with a wife and two daughters. Snapshots of Alex are presented as he goes through typical schoolboy antics and falls in love at an early age with his cousin Annie, whose family has moved to America. Alex goes to college, works briefly as a movie extra, is enlisted in the military, and finally marries a doctor named Lyuba, who reminds him of Annie. They immigrate to America in the 1980s, and he finally gets to meet Annie, who has no idea about his long-standing obsession with her. Against a backdrop of such historical events as the demise of Soviet communism, Alex deals with losing his job, raising children, and struggling with a writing career. There is little character development and even less plot or intrigue in this sketchy record of events. The novel reads more like a family blog and offers few tangible rewards.—David A. Beronä, Plymouth State Univ., NH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint (November 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158243400X
• ISBN-13: 978-1582434001
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,280,943 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark follows the fine American tradition: a person moves to the US, learns the language, takes any job he can find, complains bitterly, but perseveres. Mark also writes flash fiction, so he knows how to express himself concisely, before the reader gets bored. He loves to travel so he can compare foreign countries to America and congratulate himself on the fine choice he made 28 years ago when he came here. He loves his family so he can get emotional support and an audience for complaints. He loves his cat, especially when the cat bites him on his ankles. Above all, he loves his readers, in sickness and in health.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll like it!, November 10, 2008

By 

M. Nisman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My Life at First Try: A Novel (Hardcover)

In the sea of books, it's too easy to overlook the yet unknown author (I

am sure he won't remain unknown for long). I am so glad that I risked

my hard-yearned pennies to buy "My Life at First Try." I found that this

book is truly a marriage of exquisite language and a racing plot. It's

like a great dinner for everyone: pizza for the kids, truffles for the

high-brow, salad for the vegetarians and a raw steak for down-to-earth

guests.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Life at First Try, September 1, 2011

By 

Bernice Fisher - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Life at First Try: A Novel (Hardcover)

"I have found Mark Budman's book, "My Life at First Try," to be an engaging and unique glimpse into the experiences of a Russian immigrant confronted with the challenges of American society. Mr. Budman has a finely-tuned sense of humor which reflects his perspective on life and his good-natured adjustments to the often bewildering and sometimes humorous situations he encounters in America. He shows us America as seen through the eyes of a new citizen.

I was impressed with the structure of the novel; Mark begins with a fascinating glimpse into life in the Soviet Union, and the factors which inspired him to bring his family to America--disgust with the restrictions of communism, and the correspondence he received from relatives in America, urging him to join them.

Mark has arranged his chapters in ten-year segments, so we can see how he gradually matured and adjusted to life in the U.S.A. Writing under the guise of fiction, he makes this adjustment seem much easier than it must actually have been.

I enjoyed reading "My Life at First Try" for several reasons, chief among them were the insights Mark gives us into the trials and tribulations of a new immigrant. His sense of humor shines through in nearly every page.

I am happy to recommend Mark's book to everyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to leave his or her native land and learn to cope with a different language and customs. Mark's book is a thinly-disguised non-fiction book with which gives us a glimpse into the heart of an immigrant, his aspirations, his moments of joy, and his struggles to find a place in a new world. As a reader, I enjoyed taking this journey in the company of a brilliant boy who grew up to be a brilliant and gracious man.

His "First Try" was a great success! .

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The American Dream, wrought in dark Russian humor, May 22, 2009

By 

Susan O'Neill (Andover, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Life at First Try: A Novel (Hardcover)

The fanciful protagonist in this novel-in-short-short-stories begins telling his life in succinct vignettes as a small child, a tiny Russian exile in Siberia. A dreamer even then, he fancies himself by turns a reindeer driver, a slayers of dragons, a party boss, a lover, and, at length, a Marco Polo destined for travel to that strangest of strange lands, America, where he will unite with his heart's true mate, his American cousin.

Like most dreamers, Alex discovers that those fancies that come true, do so in a skewed and puzzling manner. "My Life at First Try" is filled with hang-dog humor and wry pathos, as Alex dutifully plods through school, college, clumsy sex, more graceful love, a stint at a fume-choked chemical plant, marriage, the military, and, at last, emigration to the US with his family to ultimately take a job in the high-tech industry. When at last he discovers his true calling--to be a writer--he finds that, to write of his Russian self, he must overcome his Russian grammar and embrace the bizarre and impertinent language of his new home.

I've worked with Mark Budman for years as an editor for his literary magazine, Vestal Review. I have marveled at his mastery of the very short story, Flash Fiction; he renders the form with a delightfully alien eye, and the reader is the richer for the new angle he reveals. In "My Life at First Try," Budman turns that eye on his own life--sort of--and the result is thoroughly refreshing and, yes, very funny.

For anybody who's ever been a stranger in a strange land--or has ever known one--this book is a particularly sweet treat. It's well and uniquely written, charming and satirical, lovely and affecting.

Susan O'Neill, author, Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Vietnam