A review by zhelana
The Good Life Elsewhere by Vladimir Lorchenkov, Ross Ufberg

challenging funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was a funny look at the EU and the exclusion of Moldova as a European country. All of the citizens of this one little town want to go to Italy where they think they can get jobs as illegal immigrants. Then they start doing all sorts of ridiculous things to get there from creating a submarine out of scrap metal to declaring a crusade against Italy and trying to March across Europe. Although it was written by a Moldovan author, the book really pointed out all the problems of including a country that is still socialist in the EU - no one would stay there and they'd flood into other European countries. The book was funny but not hilarious. But it just had so many little sub plots of different people trying to make it to Italy in so many different ways that it was a little hard to keep track of. There was even a chapter that was the visa department at the Italian embassy saying that they automatically disallow anyone from Moldova because they assume that they won't leave. I lost track of some of the characters from the beginning of the book and have no idea if we saw them again. Despite only being 200 pages long, this book took me 3 months to read because the chapters were so short and disconnected. Anyway, I enjoyed this book but it's definitely not one of the best books of the year.