Snow White and Russian Red

Dorota Maslowska's audacious debut novel establishes her as a new young literary voice of international importance. When "Snow White and Russian Red" was first published, it became a controversial, acclaimed best seller in both Poland and Germany, a stunning accomplishment since the author was only nineteen. Reminiscent of Irvine Welsh's "Trainspotting, 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 who unravels after his girlfriend, Magda, dumps him. A track suited slacker who spends most of his time doing little more than searching for his next line of speed and dreaming up conspiracy theories about the Polish economy, Nails ricochets from the bewitching Magda to proselytizing Angela to hellcat Natasha to nerdy Ala, the girlfriend of the friend who stole Magda. Through it all, a xenophobic campaign against the proliferating Russian black market escalates, and the citizens have to paint their houses in national colors-or is that just in Nails' 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.