L U N A T A L K with Eva Moon

My Life at First Try

February 3, 2009 on 2:03 pm | Join the conversation. You know you want to. | In General Musing

I’ve just finished a book I’d like to recommend: My Life at First Try: A Novel by Mark Budman.

I dislike Mark Budman. He writes the kind of light, lean, witty, poignent prose I kept wishing I’d written. If he were to read my blog he’d probably take me to task for overwriting and I’d deserve it. Oh well, maybe I can learn.

My Life at First Try tells the semi-autobiographical story of the life of “Alex” from his childhood in the Soviet Union through middle age as an immigrant to the US. The chapters are short, breezy and funny and the story flies by, but all the heartbreak is simmering just beneath the surface. It’s a splendid combination.