Little Failure

     The title says enough. Parents usually give their children loving nicknames, but this is not however the case for Gary Shteyngart who grows up being called Snotty, and even worse "little failure" by his mother. Low self esteem is obviously present from the very get go of the memoir and the setting in which Shteyngart is placed in such an early age having just immigrated from Russia is the icing on the cake. From early suffering, pain and anguish, to later assimilation as Shteyngart is able adjust to the new atmosphere, to ultimate self realization and understanding the abilities of ones self. Although at many points i wanted to put this book down feeling lost sometimes, and even agitated by all the Russian word add ins, i felt a satisfaction in completing it and seeing the journey of the once frail and sickly Gary who no one believed in, into becoming someone much more.