Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, Sharp, Witty and Hilarious
Review: Shteyngart has created a comic wonder in this book that hopefully is a work born out of his own experiences. For anybody who can come up with something like this (without such experience) would have to be insanely brilliant. I wish to think he were not so.A thouroughly enjoyable book that is difficult to put down. His use of the language in the first quarter of the book is Unique, the main character clearly becomes intriguing to the reader and keeps the interest up even when the book sags a bit in the middle while it meanders its way to the end. Highly recommended for a Unique and Hilarious experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong start, but just sorta petered out...
Review: I rushed through about the first 150 pages or so of "Debutante" really enthused by Gary Shteyngart's writing. His ear and attention to detail result in rich, nuanced portraits of each of the characters as they are introduced. Then, for reasons too complex to cover here, it's off to Prague (masquerading as 'Prava') for a story of personal reinvention. From that point on...man, what a tough slog. It took me two whole weeks to digest the final 200 pages. It meanders aimlessly...characters materialize out of nowhere, but for no long-term effect...Vladimir Griskin's comeuppance seems scripted and abrupt, like Shteyngart was on serious deadline or something. There's an entire middle section of the book - about 100 pages or so when Griskin is with Francesca and her family in New York - that could be completely excised with little or no effect on the overall story. And, by the way, what's with the cover? Is that supposed to be Morgan? (a character appearing only in the last third of book). 80%+ of the people who buy this book are going to assume that *this* is the Debutante in question. Clearly, it's not. Why the need to deceive?
Rating:
Summary: the most entertaining book of the year
Review: Sons of neurotic Jewish mothers unite! This is the most hysterical treatise on Jewish families since Portnoy's, but with a unique Russian twist. The author displays talent on every level imaginable. He's a humorist, a rabble-rouser, and a unique social commentator. There's nothing more satisfying than an outsider looking in and the Leningrad-born Shteyngart and his insane hero Vladimir Girshkin are the ultimate outsiders, hilarious but often surprisingly tender. Run don't walk for this one.
Rating:
Summary: witty smart
Review: hillariously funny and GREAT writing, HIGHLY recommend!
Rating: 
Summary: Quit reading after 150 pages....
Review: Choose another book, this one isn't worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: American literature in classic Russian style
Review: Clever mix of satire of the US immigrant experience and the contemporary Russian experience and life between the two. Very nice combination of readable American fiction and classic Russian absurdism and dark humor - highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Ditto
Review: What everybody else (who liked the book but thought it dragged in the middle) said. Plus, you can learn lots of cool Russian culturisms! I do not normally read fiction (it's a handicap of mine) but I crave information about what kids during the cold war experienced on the OTHER side of the iron curtain, and so I picked this book up, thinking, well, I'll at least start it. Once I was accosted by Shteyngart's rapier wit, I didn't put it down...well, until the middle. (But really, the second part isn't BAD, it's just not as funny as the first part! And after all, there is Stalin's Left Foot. Which, unlike it would be early last century, is funny.) Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The funniest book I've read in years.
Review: This book is so well-written, it stands out from any other novel I've read in a long time. The prose is biting, hilarious and so clever, and if you have any Russian background at all, you could split your sides laughing. Hurry up, Mr. Shteyngart! Give us more! I can't wait!
Rating:
Summary: interesting style of prose, interesting take on human agenda
Review: i started reading this book as a bored exploration of fiction, but was quickly absorbed into the basic underdog plot. man is at the bottom with no where to go but up...call to adventure a crazy old russian war hero...i've known many russians over my time and while not all russians act and talk alike, i found this book to be very reminding of some their mannerisms and their priorities. while not altogether solid, this book is definitely worth a try, if you like reading about the underdog.
Rating: 
Summary: Scripted for TV
Review: After the first sixty pages, the characters in this book, particularly its hero, degenerate. By the chapters about "searching for money" I am completely detached from the plot. This book has been described as "picaresque"--I describe it as pandering in well-worn style of sitcoms. The ending in particular pulls a stunt seen far too many times already--it's as if the author, under pressure to finish the already contracted book, forgot his original vision and went for a scripted-for-tv-ending.
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