Panic in a Suitcase

Stefan Rudnicki takes listeners into the midst of the wonderful, funny, crazy characters in this debut novel. The Nasmertov family leaves Odessa in 1991 for Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, looking for their share of the American dream. After two years, they've have made a life for themselves among Brooklyn's Ukrainian Jews. Rudnicki colors their stories with all the dark humor, varied emotion, and bittersweet tones of a melancholy violin. From Robert and Esther, respected doctors back in Odessa, to Pasha, their poet son who has remained in the old country, the novel is less about the current crisis in Ukraine and more about the universal experience of immigrants everywhere. Rudnicki offers perfect pronunciations of Yiddish expressions, and his superb performance removes all distance between listener and characters. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

May 12, 2014
The Ukrainian Jewish family featured in this hilarious debut leaves Odessa for Brooklyn in 1991. They include renowned doctor Robert Nasmertov; his daughter, Marina; who finds work cleaning houses for wealthy American Jews; and her nine-year-old daughter, Frida. However, Robert’s son, Pasha, a brilliant poet but a totally incapable human being, never emigrates, visiting his family only occasionally. In 2008, the adult Frida goes to see him and discovers that he has become “more alienated and excluded in his native city than his family in their new land.” Akhtiorskaya’s take on how family members manipulate and fail each other is spot-on, with Pasha and Frida both disappointing their family in different ways: he converts to Christianity; she begins medical school but drops out. The prose is finely crafted, but this is not a tale of relatable people. Instead, Akhtiorskaya excels at humorous, slightly overstated character sketches, making each person uniquely absurd. Agent: Jim Rutman, Sterling Lord Literistic.