About: The Russian Debutante's Handbook

The Russian Debutante's Handbook is the debut novel by author Gary Shteyngart, published in 2002. It follows the exploits of young Russians both in the Alphabet City neighborhood of Manhattan and the European city of Prava (a pseudonym for Prague). The novel and its author are parodied in Shteyngart's second novel, Absurdistan, as The Russian Arriviste's Handjob, the work of one "Jerry Shteynfarb" whose writing and character are denigrated on several occasions by the narrator-protagonist of Absurdistan, Misha Vainberg.