本書的主人公——俄裔美國大胖子米沙·凡伯格為瞭買一本比利時護照，以便迴到紐約，沒想到陷在瞭高加索小國荒誕斯坦，並被該國內戰後掌權的大軍閥任命為多元文化事務部的部長，上演瞭一齣充滿諷刺意味的奇遇記。在作者筆下，新俄羅斯的寡頭政治，美國的生活方式，以及兩國共有的狂妄自大和對弱小國傢的欺淩都成為嘲諷的對象，本書作者是糅雜瞭十九世紀俄國文學、二十世紀街頭熱舞和二十一世紀石油政治及紛爭的第一人。

施特恩加特1972年生於列寜格勒，7歲時移民美國，四年前以處女作《俄羅斯社交新丁手冊》（The Russian Debutante's Handbook）大受矚目。

“ Absurdistan is not just a hilarious novel, but a record of a particular peak in the history of human folly. No one is more capable of dealing with the transition from the hell of socialism to the hell of capitalism in Eastern Europe than Shteyngart, the great-great grandson of one Nikolai Gogol and the funniest foreigner alive.”

–Aleksandar Hemon

From the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of The Russian Debutante’s Handbook comes the uproarious and poignant story of one very fat man and one very small country

Meet Misha Vainberg, aka Snack Daddy, a 325-pound disaster of a human being, son of the 1,238th-richest man in Russia, proud holder of a degree in multicultural studies from Accidental College, USA (don’t even ask), and patriot of no country save the great City of New York. Poor Misha just wants to live in the South Bronx with his hot Latina girlfriend, but after his gangster father murders an Oklahoma businessman in Russia, all hopes of a U.S. visa are lost.

Salvation lies in the tiny, oil-rich nation of Absurdistan, where a crooked consular officer will sell Misha a Belgian passport. But after a civil war breaks out between two competing ethnic groups and a local warlord installs hapless Misha as minister of multicultural affairs, our hero soon finds himself covered in oil, fighting for his life, falling in love, and trying to figure out if a normal life is still possible in the twenty-first century.

With the enormous success of The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, Gary Shteyngart established himself as a central figure in today’s literary world—“one of the most talented and entertaining writers of his generation,” according to The New York Observer . In Absurdistan, he delivers an even funnier and wiser literary performance. Misha Vainberg is a hero for the new century, a glimmer of humanity in a world of dashed hopes.

From the Hardcover edition.