Super Sad True Love Story

Shteyngart's third novel, following the 2006 LJ Editors' Pick Absurdistan (not currently available on audio), is a satire set in a future world in which people's lives are perversely linked to technology; in which their very worth is based on scores, rankings, and private data that are no longer private but on display to everyone. The book alternates between middle-aged Lenny Abramov's diary entries and young Eunice Park's crude digital communications to her family and friends. Caught up in a Big Brother world, the two find an existence with each other mirroring a country divided by differences in technology, ethnicity, age, and outlook. Actors/narrators Adam Grupper and Ali Ahn bring these characters to life, perfectly voicing their perspectives. Not so much a sad love story about two people as one of an entire world. Recommended. [The Random hc, which was published in July, was a New York Times best seller; see Prepub Exploded, BookSmack! 2/18/10.—Ed.]—Beth Traylor, Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libs.