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" &amp;quot;THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT LOVE,&amp;quot; the Russian-American writer Gary Shteyngart promises in his new novel, Absurdistan (Random House, $25). A book about lies would be more like it.  On its face, this follow-up to Shteyngart&amp;#039;s well-received The Russian Debutante&amp;#039;s Handbook tells the tale of Misha Vainberg, a grossly overweight, overwealthy son of a Russian gangster who gets stranded in the land of Absurdistan. But the book is really just an excuse for Shteyngart to do his &amp;quot;oh, me so young and clever&amp;quot; routine and offer his useless socioeconomic observations. Like, God help us, rap: &amp;quot;Heah come dat bitch / from round de way / box my putz / like Cassius Clay.&amp;quot; Nice, huh? Too bad a little Googling exposes the real hardcore, old-school gems, like photos of the eager beaver mugging it up at the Stuyvesant High School Young Republicans clambake.  As for the writing, yes, Shteyngart can sometimes pen a neat sentence. But what Russian can&amp;#039;t? We&amp;#039;re born with this stuff. Absurdistan&amp;#039;s most odious creation is a certain fellow novelist whom Shteyngart describes as &amp;quot;an upper-middle-class phony who came to the United States as a kid and is now playing the professional immigrant game.&amp;quot; Shteyngart later accuses this colleague of impregnating his students at Hunter College, including the protagonist&amp;#039;s girlfriend, Rouenna Sales.  Reader, I am him. And never have I been so publicly libeled. Those students were pregnant before I met them! An &amp;quot;upper-middle-class phony&amp;quot;? This coming from Shteyngart, a writer whose knowledge of the South Bronx (featured exhaustively in Absurdistan) is limited to once soaring over the &amp;#039;hood on a JetBlue flight to Burlington, Vermont. As for the sultry Latina Rouenna Sales, believe me, I know Shteyngart&amp;#039;s amorous habits well. Let&amp;#039;s just say there&amp;#039;s more kimchi on his plate than arroz con pollo. Do what you have to, Mr. Shteyngart; build your modest throne on the corpses of your countrymen. But, as my lawyer will soon tell you, we live in a world where words have consequences. And if I can&amp;#039;t earn your respect, I&amp;#039;ll take your money. We&amp;#039;re both Americans now, pal. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/reviews/a2241/esq0606absurdistan-2/>