Novelist tells story of Russian immigrant friends
Brooklyn BookBeat: Author to Speak in Cobble Hill
Lara Vapnyar, an author described by The New York Times as “exquisitely sensitive to the shifting vagaries of emotion,” will appear at BookCourt in Cobble Hill on Tuesday, Aug. 2 (7 p.m., 163 Court St.) to speak about her book “Still Here” with Yelena Akhtiorskaya, author of the critically acclaimed debut “Panic in a Suitcase.”
“Still Here” follows four friends — Sergey, Vica, Regina and Vadik — who met in Russia in their school days, but remained in touch and now have very different lives in America. They are in their mid-30s, and the pressures of daily life are bearing down on them.
Sergey cycles through jobs as an analyst, hoping his idea for an app will finally bring him success. His wife, Vica, a medical technician struggling to keep her family afloat, hungers for a better life. Sergey’s former girlfriend Regina, once a famous translator, is married to a wealthy start-up owner and spends her days at home holed up in a sweeping Tribeca loft, curtains drawn, watching television and eating takeout, grieving over a recent loss. Sergey’s best friend, Vadik, a programmer ever in search of perfection, keeps trying on different women and different neighborhoods, all while pining for the lost love of his life.