A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir
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Narrated by:
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Daniel Gamburg
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By:
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Lev Golinkin
About this listen
A compelling story of two intertwined journeys: a Jewish refugee family fleeing persecution and a young man seeking to reclaim a shattered past.
In the twilight of the Cold War, nine-year-old Lev Golinkin and his family cross the Soviet border with only ten suitcases, $600, and the vague promise of help awaiting in Vienna. Years later, Lev, now an American adult, sets out to retrace his family's long trek, locate the strangers who fought for his freedom, and in the process, gain a future by understanding his past.
Lev Golinkin's memoir is the vivid, darkly comic, and poignant story of a young boy in the confusing and often chilling final decade of the Soviet Union. It's also the story of Lev Golinkin, the American man who finally confronts his buried past by returning to Austria and Eastern Europe to track down the strangers who made his escape possible…. and thank them.
Written with biting, acerbic wit and emotional honesty in the vein of Gary Shteyngart, Jonathan Safran Foer, and David Bezmozgis, Golinkin's search for personal identity set against the relentless currents of history is more than a memoir: it's a portrait of a lost era. This is a thrilling tale of escape and survival, a deeply personal look at the life of a Jewish child caught in the last gasp of the Soviet Union, and a provocative investigation into the power of hatred and the search for belonging. Lev Golinkin achieves an amazing feat - and it marks the debut of a fiercely intelligent, defiant, and unforgettable new voice.
©2014 Lev Golinkin (P)2014 Blackstone AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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I Must Betray You
- By: Ruta Sepetys
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Ruta Sepetys
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force. Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He’s left with only two choices: betray everyone and everything he loves—or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe.
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Brilliant, dramatic, heartbreaking
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 02-04-22
By: Ruta Sepetys
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Three Cups of Tea
- One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations
- By: Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time: Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.
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A Fraud
- By Sara on 02-23-16
By: Greg Mortenson, and others
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God's Double Agent
- The True Story of a Chinese Christian's Fight for Freedom
- By: Bob Fu, Nancy French
- Narrated by: Hayden Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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God’s people are hiding in plain sightTens of millions of Christians live in China today, leading double lives to hide from a government that relentlessly persecutes them. By day, Bob Fu was a teacher in a communist school; by night, he was a preacher in an underground house church network. This edge-of-your-seat book tells the true story of Fu’s conversion to Christianity, his arrest and imprisonment for starting an illegal house church, his harrowing escape, and his subsequent rise to prominence in the United States as an advocate for his oppressed brethren.
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a great book, very informative.
- By Charles on 09-21-15
By: Bob Fu, and others
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A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True
- By: Brigid Pasulka
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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The novel opens on the eve of World War II. In the mountain village of Half-Village, a young man nicknamed the Pigeon, under the approving eyes of the entire village, courts the beautiful Anielica Hetmanska. But the war's arrival wreaks havoc in all their lives and delays their marriage for six long years.
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The Old & New Worlds Converge & Transcend Time
- By Sara on 11-22-16
By: Brigid Pasulka
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The Lightless Sky
- A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World
- By: Gulwali Passarlay
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen, Susan Duerden
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2006, after his father was killed, Gulwali Passarlay was caught between the Taliban, who wanted to recruit him, and the Americans, who wanted to use him. To protect her son, Gulwali's mother sent him away. The search for safety would lead the 12-year-old across eight countries, from the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan through Iran and Europe to Britain. Over the course of 12 harrowing months, Gulwali endured imprisonment, hunger, cruelty, brutality, loneliness, and terror - and nearly drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
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A Face for Refugees
- By Daryl on 12-10-16
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The UnAmericans
- Stories
- By: Molly Antopol
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Again and again, Molly Antopol’s deeply sympathetic characters struggle for footing in an uncertain world, hounded by forces beyond their control. Their voices are intimate and powerful and they resonate with searing beauty. Antopol is a superb young talent, and The UnAmericans will long be remembered for its wit, humanity, and heart.
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Sensational stories! Brilliant new author.
- By MidwestGeek on 05-04-14
By: Molly Antopol
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The Girl in the Blue Beret
- A Novel
- By: Bobbie Ann Mason
- Narrated by: Fred Sullivan
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Inspired by a true story, the best-selling author of In Country offers a gorgeous, haunting novel about an airline pilot coming to terms with his past, and searching for the people who saved him during World War II. After Marshall Stone's B-17 bomber was shot down in occupied Europe in 1944, people in the French Resistance helped him escape to safety.
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Needs a woman narrator for female characters
- By Patricia A Gallagher on 02-23-21
By: Bobbie Ann Mason
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Street Without a Name
- Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria
- By: Kapka Kassabova
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Kassabova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and grew up under the drab, muddy, gray mantle of one of communism’s most mindlessly authoritarian regimes. Escaping with her family as soon as possible after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, she lived in Britain, New Zealand, and Argentina, and several other places. But when Bulgaria was formally inducted to the European Union she decided it was time to return to the home she had spent most of her life trying to escape. What she found was a country languishing under the strain of transition. This two-part memoir of Kapka’s childhood and return explains life on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
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Good start, but ended up not liking the author
- By Giselle on 11-02-21
By: Kapka Kassabova
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The Fox Hunt
- A Refugee's Memoir of Coming to America
- By: Mohammed Al Samawi
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in the Old City of Sana’a, Yemen, to a pair of middle-class doctors, Mohammed Al Samawi was a devout Muslim raised to think of Christians and Jews as his enemy. But when Mohammed was 23, he secretly received a copy of the Bible, and what he read cast doubt on everything he’d previously believed. After connecting with Jews and Christians on social media, and at various international interfaith conferences, Mohammed became an activist, making it his mission to promote dialogue and cooperation in Yemen. Then came the death threats....
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Engaging and informative memoir
- By Mark on 08-02-18
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Life in a Jar
- By: Jack Mayer
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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During World War II, Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker, organized a rescue network of fellow social workers to save 2,500 Jewish children from certain death in the Warsaw ghetto. Incredibly, after the war her heroism, like that of many others, was suppressed by communist Poland and remained virtually unknown for 60 years.
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Love of neighbor
- By minime on 03-26-16
By: Jack Mayer
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The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
- By: Dinaw Mengestu
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Ethiopian émigré Dinaw Mengestu is a skilled observer of people who offers a colorful debut work of fiction. Insightful and swiftly paced, this novel evokes past and present in the course of its compelling narrative. It's the `70s, and one D.C. neighborhood is undergoing big changes. In the mix is Ethiopian grocery owner Sepha Stephanos - a man with a complex past who fled his homeland after seeing his father brutalized by themilitary. He hopes for new prospects in D.C.'s gentrification process.
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Great book, wonderful reader
- By Lisbeth on 11-22-11
By: Dinaw Mengestu
What listeners say about A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Carole
- 11-12-16
Exquisite memoir
This beautifully written memoir by a young Jewish refugee from Soviet Russia is visceral, poignant, insightful, wise and ultimately full of gratitude. I'd recommend it especially for anyone interested in the refugee/immigrant experience.
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- D. Soderstrom
- 01-13-23
You Will Laugh and Cry
This story is both personal
and portrays an immigrant experience that we should all be aware of. This book is informative, inspiring, sad and heartwarming.
Well worth reading.
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- Daryl
- 04-13-15
Touching, moving Memoir
Would you listen to A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir again? Why?
Definitely! I loved both the author and the narrator! They were both engaging, poignant and humorous in the right spots. I loved it
What did you like best about this story?
The whole thing was a tgerrific read about identity, race, family, and perceptoin.
Have you listened to any of Daniel Gamburg’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have not. My quibble with his performance is less about his narration and more about the post-production. The narrator was very good, but switches in audio quality - even mid-sentence - became incredibly distracting to an audiophile with a good set of headphones...
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Both! I laughed out loud in some places, and cried at some moving moments.
Any additional comments?
This book is less about Lev's journey to find the people who assisted him as a child, and more about his experiences as a refugee, then an immigrant; as a Jew and an anti-Semite. While this was not a bad thing, the publisher's description talks more about his journey to locate the people who assisted him.
Terrific read, either way!
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3 people found this helpful
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- susan balloch
- 12-02-21
best book I've listened to in a long time
The writing is so genuine, and the image it paints is both accurate and colored with emotions that so many people of that time shared. It expresses a mingled combination of feelings and memories that's very hard to describe to someone who hasn't lived it-- And it does a very good job of giving others a glimpse, And in doing so helping people understand what that life experience was like.
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- LAR
- 02-10-18
Very enlightening!
As a child we marched and raise funds and collected all kinds of goods and clothes for Soviet jewery, however, of everything I've learned and known, this perspective from a child immigrant was hugely enlightening !
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- JC
- 12-21-14
Surprisingly Warm Insights into the Cold War:
You will not go wrong with tender and sincere portrait of a young man struggling to be free. A slice of one family's epic struggle to freedom against the backdrop of the last gasps of the Cold War is both entertaining and deserving of respect and admiration.
A brilliant book, written with the simplicity and honesty of one not accustomed to excess! This book provides a remarkable history into one Russian family as they flee the oppression of the Soviet System as it is collapsing under Glasnost and Perestroika. At once both sad and uplifting, this book humanized for me the "enemy" from my Cold Warrior childhood in the U.S.A. I used to sit on the curb and wonder if the airplanes flying above were preparing to drop atomic weapons, and yet in truth the enemy was no enemy at all. This book pulls back the curtain on the human condition in the Soviet Union at the end of this "evil empire" and illuminates family and sacrifice are universal human conditions. We are all struggling to be our best selves and shed the things that hold us back!
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1 person found this helpful
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- casey
- 05-19-15
Enjoy... Enjoy... Enjoy...
If you could sum up A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir in three words, what would they be?
Engaging, Interesting, and Funny
What was one of the most memorable moments of A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir?
I was surprised to find out how difficult it was for the author's family to leave Russia in 1989!?? I love history and read a lot of nonfiction but this was different because the author is essentially the same age as I am! It was eye-opening in a very relate-able way!
Which character – as performed by Daniel Gamburg – was your favorite?
I thoroughly enjoyed Daniel's narration. His slight accent was endearing and (although I am not Russian) it sounded authentic and natural! I just finished listening to a completely different audiobook about Russia and the narration made me want to scream because it was so overdone and obnoxious!
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
The title of this book would be hard to beat!
Any additional comments?
It was so interesting to listen to Lev's impressions of his trek to America via Austria. His family was hilarious, intelligent and lovely to 'get to know.'He helped me see America through the eyes of an immigrant. I always admire and envy those from other cultures who come to America but this story helped me also see the struggles as well. This is an uplifting story about human kindness, friendships and family! I learned so much about Russia, immigration policies (or lack thereof), and what it means to be a family!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Will
- 06-10-22
Insightful and thought provoking
I am a very sensitive person, so truthfully sometimes I’m not able to read books that deal with sad or depressing topics because it affects my mood too much. (Judge me if you must) We read this book in my book club and I was a little nervous that it would be something difficult for me. I thought the author did a wonderful job of sharing all of the challenges and heartbreaks of their experience in a very factual clear way, which somehow did not bring me down. I don’t know how he did it but I’m thankful because I feel like I learned so much from this book and it will change the way I interact with the world and refugees in particular. I’m glad I read it!
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- Will
- 12-28-18
Hope, Dignity, Humanity
This simple first hand account of being a refugee in America stuns with its portrayal of the daily trials of becoming an American, while leaving behind family, friends, culture, language, money and possessions, with only hope as a guide.
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- Michael Murphy
- 01-31-21
A powerful memory. One that deserves to be shared.
A heartrending narrative for too many immigrants. Sometimes hard to listen to, but well worth the effort.
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