This is the beauty of fiction: It can be so many different things and be as equally amazing to read, from one vibe to the next.
Such is the case with Ken Pisani’s latest, “The Defection and Subsequent Resurrection of Nikolai Pushkin.” In a strange case of serendipity, Pisani reached out to me personally right around the time I had been thinking about one of his earlier works, “Amp’d“, which I loved loved loved and was wondering if he had done anything recently. Sure enough, he had, and asked if I would like to read it. So full disclosure, I was sent this book.
Readers of this blog, I know this will not be an easy find, but do what you can because it’s that good.
Like with “Amp’d,” Pisani’s fiction is … different. It’s contemporary, but not episodic or saga-like in that you are not firmly entrenched in a single family or a single storyline. (And that’s not a ding on those — I loves me some verbose Franzen.) Pisani is just a damn good storyteller. As good as Ann Patchett, as good as Jess Walter, as good as Andrew Sean Greer.
With Nikolai, Pisani has conjured up the most sympathetic of sports stars — a 20-year-old Russian hockey phenom in the late 80s before Russians playing for the NHL was an actual thing. Spirited away from a foreign shopping mall by US reps for the Buffalo Sabres, Nikolai defects to the United States in hopes of seeing New York City, meeting Ed Koch, Cats on Broadway and the chance to win a Stanley Cup, in almost that order.
That is where this story starts and by the time you finish the book, you’ll feel like you were sitting at Valentine’s in Brighton Beach eating Russian soul food while being told the greatest of tales, in which Nikolai defects, falls in love, regrets all things and is redeemed by all those lives he touched along the way. You’ll meet Ellie and Derek, both of whom owe their current and future state to a single night at Madison Square Garden where history is almost made. You’ll meet James the enforcer and his sister, Naomi‚ Nikolai’s true love. You’ll even get to experience Putin both getting punched and getting played. Yes, that Putin.
This was heartwarming, funny, charming, suspenseful and endearing — all the very best qualities of a great yarn. Plus, hockey! And actual recipes from Valentine’s in the back! I’m making the gnocchi this weekend. I’d take this book going viral over “Theo of Golden” if I could make it happen. This deserves all the flowers, too.
Pick it up.
