Reviews

At times throughout these stories, Shonk's narratives sound like a translation of Russian literature, or triumphs of Slavic ventriloquism--not just because of shocking, Babel-like comparisons, but also the occasional Chekhovian quiet gesture . . . and the depiction of a Nabokovian character . . . The Red Passport -- full of all sorts of precarious mixings of horror and comedy, Russians and Americans, saviors and terrorists, disappointments and hopes--is a fine debut collection of tales told in a new, clear voice.

--Brian Bouldrey, Chicago Tribune

The people in The Red Passport, Katherine Shonk's collection of stories about life in post-Soviet society, can be roughly divided between real Russians and those who wish they were; natives trying to get out; well-meaning Americans trying to fit in; and some older types still trying to wake from the nightmare of the New World Order. . . . Shonk sees these and other varied perestroikans with an eye both rueful and ruthless, sympathetic to their dreams even as she sees through them. She writes with the comfortable sense of one who has not only been there but taken a good look around.

-- Rodney Welch, New York Times

The Red Passport is a wonderful first collection of short stories, by the American writer Katherine Shonk, set in present-day Russia . . . Satire contends with clear-eyed pity in these brief chronicles of human fallibility. . . . Shonk writes with a native English speaker's aplomb (and literary inheritance), but her detailed knowledge of the Russian settings and character suggest a Russian upbringing. Whatever the explanation, it cannot detract from the pleasures and insights of these shapely stories with their shared note of rueful humour.

--Brock Baker, Times Literary Supplement

[Shonk] is disarmingly deft at getting into the heads of her Russian characters . . . Whether you are American or Russian . . . you must read these stories or have them read to you.

--Natasha S. Randall, Los Angeles Times

. . . stark and magnificent . . . These stories offer more than just impressively detailed political and social commentary; at the heart of each is a real, human character in difficult, complex relationships. . . . Shonk's sentences stand sturdy and unglossed, a style not so minimalist as to be meaningless, but whose truths and descriptions affect us without help from overwrought prose. Despite their brevity, each of these eight stories is epic in detail and emotional depth, leaving us eager for the author's next effort.

--Thomas Haley, Minneapolis Star

The Red Passport paints a nuanced picture of a changed Russia a country struggling to define a new identity. It's clear that identity is still far from fully formed, but Shonk lovingly opens up the hood to show us the churning gears.

--Scott W. Helman, The Boston Globe

In this promising debut collection set primarily in post-Communist Russia, expatriates and natives alike endeavor to make their way in a new social and economic landscape, often sharing an intense desire for whatever the other possesses: money, freedom, love, family. . . . That tension lends these stories an impressive vitality.

-- Publisher's Weekly

. . . important stories, at once timeless and searingly of the moment . . .

-- Donna Seaman, Booklist

"...poignant, unforgettable stories "

--Elissa Schappell, Vanity Fair

... personal travails crystallize a new understanding of self and life that is rendered with beautiful understatement and jolting clarity.

--Ben Dickinson, Elle

The Red Passport is an admirable first collection that looks modest but thinks big, turning intimate scenes between Russians and Americans into snapshots of cross-cultural confusion in this strange new global era. . . . Shonk's characters may not always share the same mother tongue, but they speak the same language because of a rare and fleeting empathy that sets aside their disparate pasts and diverging futures.

--Susan Barba, The Moscow Times

Call them Chekhovian if you must: These are confident, lovely stories, attuned to the music of longing and the riddle of connection amid the blare and neon of casino Moscow. Perhaps the greatest compliment one can pay Shonk is that she doesn't sound American at all.

--Jesse Berrett, City Pages