Synopses & Reviews
Here are six fictional stories about Americans colliding with a remote and often perilous part of the world:
Two journalists, stranded in wartime Afghanistan, are taken in by a warlord who becomes the arbiter of their fates.
A female scientist investigating the Aral Sea disaster is drawn into a trap by a former KGB officer.
On a hike through Kazakhstan, Jayne and Douglas’s marriage unravels when their guide, a veteran of the Soviet-Afghanistan war, takes an unseemly interest in Jayne.
The son of an American ambassador addicted to the seamy underside of a Central Asian city finally gets in over his head.
In the Pushcart Prize–winning title story, a tortured missionary struggles to reconcile his sexual urges with his faith.
A young man just back from a long stint in Kyrgyz-stan finds his relationship with his fiancée all but destroyed.
Sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic, but always eerily affecting, these stories show us deeply foreign lands and peoples through our own eyes. Impressive in both range and emotional acuity, God Lives in St. Petersburg is a stunning fictional debut by a “wildly talented” (Outside) young writer.
Review
"In God Lives in St. Petersburg, Bissell reveals himself to be not only a subtle craftsman but also a mordant observer of a new generation lost in a complex and dangerous world." Pankaj Mishra, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[A] slim but rigorous debut collection of six darkly passionate stories....Graham and Ernest move over, you've got company." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
In this exciting collection, the acclaimed author of Chasing the Sun turns his keenly observant eye to fiction with sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious adventures and misadventures of Americans colliding with the unfamiliar in Central Asia.
About the Author
Tom Bissell is the author of Chasing the Sea (available in paperback from Vintage Books) and contributes to Harper’s Magazine, The Believer, and other publications. He lives in New York.