The Tsar of Love and Techno

I remember seeing this book cover when it first came out in hardback. I thought it was pretty, with the pinks and purples, but based on a snap cover-judgment, I decided that I wouldn't like it. Because I'm not really interested in books about music, and there was a cassette tape right there on the cover, and so clearly it must be about music. I probably bought something else, now long forgotten, at Barnes and Noble instead.

My book club picked this one, and so I requested a copy from the library. And imagine my surprise when it turns out to be about Russian communism, a glimpse at the people whose lives were affected by it, all in interlinked stories. About midway through the first story, I knew this was a book I was going to have to buy. So I did, after I had finished the second story. And now that I'm finished with the whole thing, I'm going to have to read it again, this time aloud to my husband. (Otherwise he would never get to it on his own. He's not much of a reader.)

So thanks a lot, Past Allie, for making a bad choice in passing this one over. I loved this book so much.

(P.S. Anthony Marra also created a Spotify playlist as a companion for this book, though I didn't find out about it until after I'd finished and gone on a Google rampage to find out more about the author. Search for “Tsar of Love and Techno” in Spotify. It is also really excellent.)