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Jacob Wren

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Penguin Random House Canada

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Michael Bryson

Goodreads Author

Born

Toronto, Canada

Website

http://michaelbryson.com

Genre

Contemporary, Fiction

Member Since

March 2013

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Michael Bryson has written lots of short stories and book reviews. From 1999-2018, he founded and managed the online literary magazine, The Danforth Review.

Publications:
- Survival (Found Press, 2012)
- The Lizard and Other Stories (Chaudiere/Invisible, 2009)
- Only A Lower Paradise and Other Stories (Boheme Press, 2000)
- Thirteen Shades of Black and White (Turnstone Press, 1999)

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Published on February 23, 2019 18:57

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Michael Bryson’s books

Average rating: 4.47 · 19 ratings · 1 review · 6 distinct works

	Only a Lower Paradise and Other Stories 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2000	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lizard and other stories by Michael Bryson (Goodreads Author), Rob Mclennan (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.60 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thirteen Shades of Black and White really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1999	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Survival it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How Many Girlfriends it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wandering the Earth: A Selected Stories Sampler it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Michael is Currently Reading

Michael Bryson rated a book it was amazing

Soroka

by Corin Cummings (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, novels

read in June 2025

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Michael Bryson said: " In 1994, Connor Chessick, a young American documentary filmmaker, travels to Siberia. The geopolitics of his youth has collapsed. The Cold War is over, and the “Evil Empire” of the Soviet Union has become the new Wild West. President Boris Yeltsin is In 1994, Connor Chessick, a young American documentary filmmaker, travels to Siberia. The geopolitics of his youth has collapsed. The Cold War is over, and the “Evil Empire” of the Soviet Union has become the new Wild West. President Boris Yeltsin is ushering in democratic and Capitalistic reforms. Russia is open for business and prime territory for adventure for the young Chessick.

Chessick had been in Russia in the autumn of 1989, during the moment the Berlin Wall fell. On a high school youth exchange, the youthful American witnessed a pivotal moment in history, more than he ever expected. Five years later, he is compelled to return. World-shifting events are happening, and he wants to be part of it. Using connections gained from his earlier visit, he arranges to work at a privately owned television station, among the first sources of independent media in the New Russia.

What he finds there, however, is once again often more than he bargained for: mafia violence, political assassination, environmental degradation, rampant alcoholism, deep poverty, no clear path to a better future. And increasing challenges for his documentary. Will the station loan him a camera? Often not. Does he know what story he wants to tell? The swirls of chaos around him make it hard for him to get his bearings.

And then there’s Alina, the beautiful Russian girl from marketing he begins a relationship with. Here is the heart of the novel, though this book is far from a romance. Connor and Alina match well. They have good times, have deep conversations, and appear to have the foundation for a lasting connection. Except Connor doesn’t plan to stay, and he doesn’t plan to bring home a Russian bride. Alina would welcome a move to America, but with blunt Russian fatalism (a trait characterized broadly in the novel) she accepts Connor’s conclusion. He refuses to have sex without a condom, for example, taking no risks on a Russian baby, though Alina tempts and teases him repeatedly.

Chessick’s journey mirrors that of Soroka’s author, Corin Cummings, who made both the 1989 and 1994 trips, though what we have here is a novel, not a memoir. Still, it is a portrait of a place and moment in time, one made more poignant by our own world-shifting era. Whatever promise of democratic and economic reform existed in the 1990s in Russia, that window has long ago closed as an Oligarchic dictatorship emerged. The seeds of this outcome are peppered throughout Cummings’s novel. Chessick never completed his documentary, but Soroka serves well in its place.

Chessick interviews a reformist politician who states:

If we allow an outlaw society to continue to take root, it will continue to grow. We need to fight corruption or it will be what defines our future. What I’m saying is that we are in danger of having corruption itself govern us, not just now or for the time being as if it were merely a rough spot, a growing pain, but going forward and for the rest of our lives. What we have is just as before, but instead of Communists, Capitalists.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, The Who sang. Crony capitalism, we might note, is not just for Russia now. And the chaos of 1990s Russia might have been a harbinger, not an aberration. Thirty years later this pivotal moment in history throws up new questions and potential insights. This is a timely novel, written in direct descriptive prose, presenting the world as if seen through a view finder. That is, with as few filters as possible. Dig it.
...more "

Dec 26, 2025 07:40AM · see review

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Michael Bryson rated a book it was amazing Soroka by Corin Cummings (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In 1994, Connor Chessick, a young American documentary filmmaker, travels to Siberia. The geopolitics of his youth has collapsed. The Cold War is over, and the “Evil Empire” of the Soviet Union has become the new Wild West. President Boris Yeltsin is ...more
Dec 26, 2025 07:36AM · like · see review