Part Bill Bryson and part David Sedaris, this witty and hilarious novel by the German cult author Wladimir Kaminer also has a Russian soul. It consists of five linked stories in which the narrator - born and raised in the former USSR and now yearning to explore foreign lands - weaves tales of communist Russia along with all the daily insanities and encounters in his new life.
Wladimir Kaminer (born 19 July 1967) is a Russian-born German short story writer, columnist, and disc jockey of Jewish origin.
Kaminer was born in Moscow, and after initially training as an audio engineer for theatre and radio, then studied dramaturgy at the Moscow Institute of Theater. Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Kaminer emigrated to Prenzlauer Berg, a district of Berlin in 1990.
From the late 1990s onward Kaminer became a prime mover in Berlin's art and literature scenes, based at the reopened Kaffee Burger club. He holds regular readings at the cafe, and also contributes regularly to various German literary organs, particularly ZDF-Morgenmagazin. Kaminer also hosts a weekly radio show, called "Wladimir's World", on Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg's (formerly Sender Freies Berlin) RADIOmultikulti, a station aimed at immigrants in Germany. Kaminer also regularly DJs at his "Russendiskos", during which he exclusively plays music by Russian bands. These discos originally began at the Kaffee Burger, but now also occasionally tour Germany.
Though Russian is his first language, Kaminer's entire literary output is in German, and sometimes concerns the language contact situation of Russian immigrants to Germany. In 2006 he announced his intention to run for Mayor of Berlin in 2011. The final chapter of his 2007 book "Ich bin kein Berliner" was subtitled "My first speech as mayoral candidate".
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