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1 of 1 copy available
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.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 11, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781797149981
- File size: 185249 KB
- Duration: 06:25:56
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 6, 2023
No good deed goes unpunished in this madcap dark comedy from Lichtman (Such Good Work), set in 2018 Ukraine. John Turner, a down and out freelance writer in Portland, Ore., accepts an offer for a job in Lutsk, Ukraine. There, he’s expected to train a staff of five at a call center for an American rental agency on how to “sound natural.” He’s woefully unprepared; he neither speaks nor understands Ukrainian and has no grasp on the culture. He tries to befriend a developer named Serhii but loses his cool after Serhii tricks him into asking a cleaner for sex. He also flirts with one of his employees, Natalia, who is married. When he learns Natalia’s husband, Anatoly, gave her a black eye, he embarks on a harebrained scheme to protect her, thinking he can bribe Anatoly with cash. While already on shaky ground and still struggling to master basic Ukrainian phrases, John has an ill-advised encounter with Anatoly that turns on a dangerous misunderstanding. Lichtman delivers a perfect send-up of the American abroad: John isn’t just naive, he’s imperious and condescending (on one of his employees: “The way he said the word ‘misconceptions’ sounded like he was trying it out for the first time. I wanted to give him a hug”). This is devilish and energizing. (Apr.)Correction: The character Serhii's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this review. -
Dan Bittner lets humor slip subtly into his narration as he describes the problems at the call center where Turner, an American, is working in Ukraine as elections bring Volodymyr Zelensky into office. Bittner's mimicry re-creates the center's calls believably and gives Turner a calm voice as he handles the callers' problems. Bittner's voice drops in volume as Turner first shares his attraction for his colleague Natalia. As the story progresses, Bittner illuminates the hidden meanings in their exchanges. Listeners learn about Natalia's personal situation along with Turner, which creates a foreboding mood. Bittner is also adept at switching point of view as the story sheds light on the characters' actions and creates surprising plot twists. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine -
June 10, 2024
Adrift after a recent breakup and still mourning his father's death, American journalist John Turner relocates to Ukraine to work at a call center. His task is to teach the customer service employees how to sound more American, including mastering the nuances of American small talk. Cultural differences bring some expected challenges. John, who knows only a handful of Ukrainian words, finds himself newly wealthy in a foreign country, befriends a loud-talking American Peace Corps worker, and endures painful language-based misunderstandings. Unexpected challenges are also present, such as when the woman next door, whose violent disputes with her husband can be heard through the wall, turns out to be a coworker on whom John has a crush. John intervenes, with disastrous results. Narrator Dan Bittner deftly narrates the story, effectively relating historical information about Ukraine and capturing the delicacy and awkwardness of cultural clashes with sharpness and wit. Bittner provides effective vocal characterizations and nails the tone of this sometimes uncomfortable but always insightful novel. VERDICT Lichtman's (Such Good Work) second novel speaks to the agony of cross-communication and cultural miscalculations, seen through the eyes of a grieving, naive, but well-intentioned man.--Whitney Bates-Gomez
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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