The Unpossessed City: A Novel [Paperback]

Jon Fasman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2009

A gripping novel about the dangers and draws of contemporary Russia?from the author of The Geographer?s Library

With The Geographer?s Library, Jon Fasman made an ?inventive and spirited? debut (The New Yorker) that landed him on The New York Times bestseller list. Every bit as dazzling, The Unpossessed City takes readers into the Wild East that is Russia today. There we meet Jim Vilatzer?an American expat whose Russian language skills land him a job interviewing former inmates of the Gulag and ensnare him in a web of deceit involving the CIA, Russia?s Interior Ministry, and Central Asian arms dealers selling the most dangerous technologies to the highest bidder. From its brooding portrayal of Moscow to its riveting pace, The Unpossessed City is an atmospheric triumph in the tradition of Donna Leon?s novels of Venice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Fasman, whose well-received debut, The Geographer's Library (2005), was set in Da Vinci Code territory, takes a compassionate look at the hard truths of modern-day Russia in his absorbing second novel. After a failed romance, 32-year-old Jim Vilatzer is working in his father's Rockville, Md., restaurant, trying to earn enough cash to pay off a $24,000 gambling debt. In an attempt to earn more money, Jim uses his Russian language skills learned in college to get a job in Moscow with the Memory Foundation to interview and record the stories of former political prisoners. A series of interviews draws him into a far-reaching scheme involving the abduction of retired Russian nuclear and biotech scientists. The bio-thriller aspect of the plot provides a loose frame for Fasman's real concerns: Jim's personal, romantic and espionage relationships and, more importantly, the trials and tribulations of the new Russia itself. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Thirtysomething Jim Vilatzer lives at home and works in his parents’ restaurant. He’s going nowhere until gambling debts force him to make a change. He lands a job in Moscow (he grew up speaking Russian to his immigrant grandparents), interviewing survivors of the gulag for a not-for-profit company. His work soon makes him a pawn in a scheme to sell to the highest bidder four of the former USSR’s top weapons engineers, which, in turn, leads him to become a target of Russian state security and the CIA. Fasman (The Geographer’s Library, 2005), weaves two very different plotlines here, one the story of a man discovering a new world and realizing that his roots are more important than he realized, the other tracking the machinations of crooked Russian officials to sell fellow citizens for a profit. The first plot is deftly, even lovingly achieved; Fasman’s Moscow is beautiful, tragic, brutal, and exhilarating. The second story line is convoluted and arcane. But, even so, the sum of the parts in this lyrically written novel is more than enough to keep readers engaged. --Thomas Gaughan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); 1 edition (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143116150
• ISBN-13: 978-0143116158
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,970,621 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful feel for Moscow, May 10, 2009

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Book Lover (Maryland,) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Unpossessed City: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book reveals Jon Fasman's deep understanding and love of Moscow. While the plot entertains and moves along briskly, it is really his descriptions of the city and its inhabitants that captured and delighted me. Well worth the read!

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Read, November 13, 2008

By 

myviews (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unpossessed City: A Novel (Hardcover)

I tend to like books that transport you to unfamiliar places through the eyes of characters poised at familiar crossroads, in search of their identity, their roots and their possibilities. Fasman's new novel does just that. The opening chapter set in a Russian prison draws you in immediately with its tension and foreboding tone while the shift to Rockville, Maryland introduces you to Jim Vilatzer, a 32 -year old at odds with himself and his life. The plot moves swiftly and engages you throughout with unexpected twists and turns that make you want to know with increasing urgency how these worlds connect. But what I loved most of all in this book and in Fasman's last, The Geographer's Library, (and for that matter, what will keep me looking forward to whatever he writes next), is the writing itself. This is an author with a gift for immersing you in the locales he writes about, for making you feel as if you are in Moscow traveling alongside Jim, experiencing the city's "unpredictability and toughness" and at the same time, discovering its "unexpected, genuine moments of kindness."

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, November 11, 2008

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rebekkah4 (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unpossessed City: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book was great on a number of levels. As a mystery, the plot was complex and surprising. As a novel, the writing was wonderful, a pleasure to read. And as a lesson about contemporary Russia, this book was fantastic. I feel like I understand more about Russia by reading this novel, in a way that I couldn't just by watching the news or reading non-fiction. This is a beautifully composed, nuanced book with very strong, almost cinematic imagery that makes the story electrifying. 100% recommend this book.