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City of Thieves: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: David Benioff
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $12.44
You Save: $12.51 (50%)
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Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 2518
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0670018708
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780670018703
ASIN: 0670018708
Publication Date: May 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: new hardcover in dustjacket, ships same or next business day with delivery confirmation
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Product Description
As wise and funny as it is thrilling and originalthe story of two young men on an impossible adventure
A writer visits his retired grandparents in Florida to document their experience during the infamous siege of Leningrad. His grandmother wont talk about it, but his grandfather reluctantly consents. The result is the captivating odyssey of two young men trying to survive against desperate odds.
Lev Beniov considers himself built for deprivation. Hes small, smart, and insecure, a Jewish virgin too young for the army, who spends his nights working as a volunteer firefighter with friends from his building. When a dead German paratrooper lands in his street, Lev is caught looting the body and dragged to jail, fearing for his life. He shares his cell with the charismatic and grandiose Kolya, a handsome young soldier arrested on desertion charges. Instead of the standard bullet in the back of the head, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful colonel to use in his daughters wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt to find the impossible. A search that takes them through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and the devastated surrounding countryside creates an unlikely bond between this earnest, lust-filled teenager and an endearing lothario with the gifts of a conman. Set within the monumental events of history, City of Thieves is an intimate coming-of-age tale with an utterly contemporary feel for how boys become men.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
Exciting, entertaining, educational November 22, 2008
This book has everything - history, intrigue, drama, harsh reality, excitement, and even humor. I look forward to reading other books by Benioff.
 A dystopian journey through WWII Leningrad November 10, 2008
A good page-turner. This one will appeal to those who love WW II military stories and anyone who loves an odyssey through a dystopian landscape. Lev, a Jewish boy too young for the Soviet army, is arrested for looting the body of German bomber pilot that lands near his apartment. But instead of the usual punishment of a bullet in the head, he is sent on an impossible quest with Koyla, an army deserter Don Juan who fancies himself a conman. Their goal: locate a dozen eggs for a wedding cake to be made for a Russian colonel's daughter in a city under siege and without food. This story will grab ahold of you and keep you reading page after page.
Great story November 9, 2008
City of Thieves has a story that pulls you in and keeps you reading. It tells a wonderful and horrible story of what the Russian people went through during their occupation of WWII. Benioff uses just the right amount of humor and characters that you really care about. Buy it!
Great November 6, 2008
I would like to spare you the same disappointment I had with this nearly flawless book. DO NOT READ THE PROLOGUE. I have no idea how the author, the editor, and publisher agreed to add those mere three pages that nearly ruin the rest of the book. But I'm glad I got over it and continued. This is an amazing book. I've read a lot of WWII era books, and this one is funnier and more entertaining than others. In my opinion, it is nearly a perfect book except for the ridiculous prologue.
Heart-warming, Stomach-turning November 5, 2008
As a history and chess buff, as well as one who's traveled in Russia, I wish I had picked up this novel much sooner. "City of Thieves" pulls us into WWII Leningrad with a frequently used technique--an author capturing on paper the accounts of his elderly relatives. But this time the technique is more than a fictional tool, it is a knife that cuts to the heart of Leningrad--in Hitler's words, "city of thieves"--and cuts back to the present with a nicely understated final sentence.
The story follows young Lev, a boy trying to survive the siege of his snow-covered city. His decision to plunder a German paratrooper's fallen corpse lands him in prison, where he prepares for his demise while realizing he'll never be a great Russian, a silent hero who braves the elements. He is young, weak, and scared. To his surprise, though, he finds himself on an unlikely quest the next morning, when he and another prisoner--a deserter from the Russian army--are told to go find a dozen eggs. Their captor's daughter is engaged to be married, and she needs eggs for her wedding cake. Eggs, in this war-torn region, are a luxury beyond words, and the search for them will lead Lev and his new friend Kolya from gruesome scenes to humorous moments to taut scenarios at the hands of the Nazis.
Lev is a wonderfully realized character, a boy who wants to be brave and worldy wise, but feels saddled with a sharp wit and large nose that don't always bode well in the Russian reality. Kolya is equally engaging, vulgar and crude, yet full of humor and wisdom, as well as a grand desire to be a noted novelist. Along their journey, they will become friends despite their differences, and they'll meet new acquaintances and enemies before it's all over.
Benioff creates a palpable landscape to match this setting among the dregs of history, and he gives us a very human story in the midst of atrocity. This is a mix of the heartwarming and stomach-turning, and in the end is a great addition to the tales to come from the Second World War because it's a tale about men and their desire to belong, whether in large or small ways.
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