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Shit Show
Arthur Nersesian, writer of the cult classic The Fuck Up, new novel Shit Show is a mystery that originates in Moscow during World War Two and is solved on the 93rd floor of the South Towers of the World Trade Center a half a century later before the towers come tumbling down on 9/11.
Shit Show, is a mystery that originates in Moscow during World War II and is solved on the 93rd floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, half a century later, before the towers come tumbling down on 9/11. The story interweaves an array of characters, from writers and informants from Stalinist Russia in 1943 to moneyed New Yorkers amid the real estate boom of the 1990s. At its center is a riddle of two Soviet a poet who in 1922 vanishes to Siberia to escape persecution and his friend, an Armenian writer who 20 years deliberately erases himself from history.
Told through multiple points of view, in short, sharp chapters, this 130,000-word (330-page) novel spans nations and decades and is linked by overlapping characters at various stages of their lives. The central protagonist is an native New York teen, Eric Stein. Over a period of years, through an odd meeting at the Woodstock Music Festival and decades later when he makes a serendipitous error, he finds himself drawn into a fragmented puzzle and ultimately a shocking revelation. The book also investigates such universal notions as faith, loyalty, and forgiveness, as well as contemporary issues, specifically globalization – how the brutal policies of countries can affect the lives of so many others years later. During the second world war, two lovers in the book, a Ukrainian girl and her Russian boyfriend, slowly find their love torn apart by the politics of their two countries – something we see dramatically acted out today in Putin's war today.
Some of the reasons I wrote this book is, after visiting Russia in 2007, I couldn't find a novel that suitably addressed the PTSD of post-Stalinist culture, specifically the guilt of writers, artists and musicians who had turned on each other in order to survive. Additionally, Shit Show offers a sharp contrast of two youth First two young lovers, students in Moscow University enlisted by the NKVD (secret police, later KGB), who frame an older writer in the belief that they are performing a patriotic act. Interlaced with their story are two teens stranded at the original Woodstock Music Festival in 1969, where all is not always peace, love and music.
Shit Show, is a mystery that originates in Moscow during World War II and is solved on the 93rd floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, half a century later, before the towers come tumbling down on 9/11. The story interweaves an array of characters, from writers and informants from Stalinist Russia in 1943 to moneyed New Yorkers amid the real estate boom of the 1990s. At its center is a riddle of two Soviet a poet who in 1922 vanishes to Siberia to escape persecution and his friend, an Armenian writer who 20 years deliberately erases himself from history.
Told through multiple points of view, in short, sharp chapters, this 130,000-word (330-page) novel spans nations and decades and is linked by overlapping characters at various stages of their lives. The central protagonist is an native New York teen, Eric Stein. Over a period of years, through an odd meeting at the Woodstock Music Festival and decades later when he makes a serendipitous error, he finds himself drawn into a fragmented puzzle and ultimately a shocking revelation. The book also investigates such universal notions as faith, loyalty, and forgiveness, as well as contemporary issues, specifically globalization – how the brutal policies of countries can affect the lives of so many others years later. During the second world war, two lovers in the book, a Ukrainian girl and her Russian boyfriend, slowly find their love torn apart by the politics of their two countries – something we see dramatically acted out today in Putin's war today.
Some of the reasons I wrote this book is, after visiting Russia in 2007, I couldn't find a novel that suitably addressed the PTSD of post-Stalinist culture, specifically the guilt of writers, artists and musicians who had turned on each other in order to survive. Additionally, Shit Show offers a sharp contrast of two youth First two young lovers, students in Moscow University enlisted by the NKVD (secret police, later KGB), who frame an older writer in the belief that they are performing a patriotic act. Interlaced with their story are two teens stranded at the original Woodstock Music Festival in 1969, where all is not always peace, love and music.
397 pages, Paperback
Published October 7, 2024
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About the author
Arthur Nersesian
35 books382 followersArthur Nersesian is the author of eight novels, including The Fuck-Up (Akashic, 1997 & MTV Books/Simon & Schuster, 1999), Chinese Takeout (HarperCollins), Manhattan Loverboy (Akashic), Suicide Casanova (Akashic), dogrun (MTV Books/Simon & Schuster), and Unlubricated (HarperCollins). He is also the author of East Village Tetralogy, a collection of four plays. He lives in New York City.
From arthurnersesian.com:
www.arthurnersesian.com/
"Arthur Nersesian is a real New York writer. His novels are a celebration
of marginal characters living in the East Village and trying to survive.
Nersesian's books include The Fuck-Up, The East Village Tetralogy, and now just published by a small press based in New York, Manhattan Loverboy. Nersesian has been a fixture in the writing scene for many years. He was an editor for The Portable Lower East Side, which was an important magazine during the 1980s and early 90s.
When The Fuck-Up came out in 1997, MTV Books picked it up and reprinted it in a new edition for hipsters everywhere. Soon Nersesian was no longer known only to a cabal of young bohemians on Avenue A. His work has been championed by The Village Voice and Time Out."
From arthurnersesian.com:
www.arthurnersesian.com/
"Arthur Nersesian is a real New York writer. His novels are a celebration
of marginal characters living in the East Village and trying to survive.
Nersesian's books include The Fuck-Up, The East Village Tetralogy, and now just published by a small press based in New York, Manhattan Loverboy. Nersesian has been a fixture in the writing scene for many years. He was an editor for The Portable Lower East Side, which was an important magazine during the 1980s and early 90s.
When The Fuck-Up came out in 1997, MTV Books picked it up and reprinted it in a new edition for hipsters everywhere. Soon Nersesian was no longer known only to a cabal of young bohemians on Avenue A. His work has been championed by The Village Voice and Time Out."
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September 8, 2025
This is his masterpiece. Comic, dramatic, tragic, but always engaging. Nersesian gracefully unravels a mystery that spans 70 years and runs through two great histories, that of the U.S. and USSR. Much of it is set during the 4-day weekend in Woodstock, where two teens are learning about love and survival. Interlaced, we also meet a half a dozen other characters, both from the past and the future, who each play a part in this unusual tale. Those who loved The Fuck-up, Manhattan Loverboy, The Five Books of (Robert) Moses, each of which are unique in their own way, will be impressed by Shit Show, his most recent offering, a fascinating explanation of the way history, politics and fate collides and unravel.
Displaying 1 of 1 review