Super Sad True Love Story is a dystopian novel set in the near future. The United States of America as we know it does not exist anymore as much of its society and its institutions have been taken over by the Chinese to whom the Americans owe a great debt. The global financial system is pegged to the Yuan and not the US-Dollar anymore, many companies and even former elite universities have an additional Chinese name. What is more, the change in society is an extrapolation of what we do with our smartphones today. Everyone owns a so-called "appärät", a device that is similar to a cellphone but much more enhanced when it comes to functionality. The main form of communication is via those devices, even when people stand next to each other. Also, you can access other people's background, images, their credit rating and more of the like. The devices also allow you to rate people in certain categories. Those ratings are almost like a currency on their own because everyone strives for good looks and immortality in this society. Now this is the world that Lenny Abramov, the thirty-nine year-old protagonist of the novel, inhabits. He is old-fashioned, not caring much about his appearance and ratings and still enjoying reading actual books, which are now called "printed, bound media artifacts". When he meets Eunice, a young Korean American, in Italy he falls in love instantly. However, the two are not well matched on the outside. While he is considered old, she is very young. Where she is beautiful, he does not really care for his looks. He is an avid reader and thinker, she is interested in the latest fashion and still undecided about her future. When Eunice returns to the US, Lenny is already back and she moves in with him, mainly for practical and financial reasons. Slowly, Eunice starts to warm up to Lenny and she becomes more than simply a roommate. What will become of their relationship? What will become of the world they live in?

Gary Shteyngart's novel paints a very bleak picture of our society in the future. His dystopian vision contains many elements that we already see right now as for example the growing addiction to smartphones and judging other people on social media. In that sense, I found the novel quite frightening as I definitely would not want our society to become like the one Shteyngart describes. The financial situation is hopefully too much of a stretch to become true. Still, I had this strange feeling when reading the book. The love story between Lenny and Eunice is really sad, just like the title proclaims. I generally liked the novel, but did not find it overly intriguing. 3.5 stars. ( )

Well, I got through it. I think my favourite part was the last chapter that gives this entire story context and the first chapter because the otter. ( )

“If we can't take care of each other now, when the world is going to shit, how are we ever going to make it?”

Lenny Abramov is on the brink of turning 40. He works for a company that is attempting to provide immortality for its super-rich clientele. The setting is NYC in the near future. Lenny feels like his life is at a crossroads, while America is slowly collapsing around him. Then he meets Eunice, a petite, but snarky, young Korean woman and this fortunate encounter gives him hope that there is a bright light at the end of his murky tunnel. First off- this novel will not work for everyone, as the many mixed reviews can attest to but it sure hit my sweet spot. Wildly inventive, ambitious, hilarious and prescient. He nails so many things like our attachment to our “devices” and our slow decline into illiteracy. If this mini-review appeals at all, please give it a try. I will be reading more of his work. ( )

Great ideas about near term future issues- apparatiks... (iphones) ... credit poles (displaying your credit score as you walk by). familiar old guy (40) pining for skinny youth (24) .. plenty poignant, but depressing and ultimately going .. where? i don't know. i shopped about half way through- tired of the ongoing war in venezuela .. and the repetive riffing on material culture and didn't care about his infinite age / eternity life company (that he worked for) . Great - but a bit tiresome. yes, i will read som more. ( )

Very funny, but perhaps a little too cynical for me. ( )