The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature - Softcover

Groskop, Viv

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241981271 ISBN 13: 9780241981276

Publisher: Penguin, 2018

Synopsis

'Wonderfully entertaining, hilarious. Contains the distilled wisdom of some of the greatest writers who ever lived' Allison Pearson, Sunday Telegraph

What should I do with my life?
What if my love is not returned?
Why do bad things happen?

The answers to some of life's biggest questions are found not in trite self-help manuals but in the tough-love lessons explored in Russian literature. Here, Viv Groskop delves into the novels of history's deepest thinkers to discover enduring truths about how we should live.

Whether you're new to the Russian classics or returning to old favourites, The Anna Karenina Fix will help salve your heartache by exploring the torments of a host of famous and infamous literary heroes and heroines. Think of it like this: they have suffered so that you don't have to . . .

'Enchanting. Groskop falls in love with the literature, her impressive knowledge of which she conveys with a charmingly breezy tone' Observer

'A beguiling tasting menu of some of the finest reading experiences of my life. Witty, likeable, and lighthearted, Viv Groskop invites us to embrace the work of these august Russian dead souls as belonging to us all' Lionel Shriver

About this title

About the Author

Viv Groskop is an award-winning comedian (Say Sorry to the Lady, Be More Margo and Anchorwoman), a crack interviewer (most recently seen on Graham Norton's UK-wide book tour), and an agony aunt for The Pool. She is the author of I Laughed, I Cried (Orion 2013), and a regular contributor to the Guardian, Observer and Mail on Sunday, as well as Front Row, Woman's Hour and Newsnight.

From the Back Cover

Viv Groskop has discovered the meaning of life in Russian literature. As she knows from personal experience, everything that has ever happened in life has already happened in these novels: from not being sure what to do with your life (Anna Karenina) to being in love with someone who doesn't love you back enough (A Month in the Country by Turgenev) or being socially anxious about your appearance (all of Chekhov's work). This is a literary self-help memoir, with examples from the author's own life that reflect the lessons of literature, only in a much less poetic way than Tolstoy probably intended, and with an emphasis on being excessively paranoid about having an emerging moustache on your upper lip, just like Natasha in War and Peace.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241981271
• ISBN 13: 9780241981276
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224