A dazzling debut, and a publishing phenomenon: the tender, savagely funny collection from a young immigrant who has taken the critics by storm. Few readers had heard of David Bezmozgis before May 2003, when "Harper's, Zoetrope, "and" The New Yorker" all printed stories from his forthcoming collection. In the space of a few weeks, America thus met the Bermans--Bella and Roman and their son, Mark--Russian Jews who have fled the Riga of Brezhnev for Toronto, the city of their dreams. Told through Mark's eyes, the stories in Natasha possess a serious wit and uniquely Jewish perspective that recall the first published stories of Bernard Malamud and Philip Roth, not to mention the recent work of Jhumpa Lahiri, Nathan Englander, and Adam Haslett. David Bezmozgis was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1973. In 1980 he immigrated with his parents to Toronto, where he lives today. This is his first book. A "New York Times" Notable BookA "San Francisco Chronicle" Best BookA "Chicago Tribune" Best BookWinner of the Commonwealth PrizeA "Los Angeles Times" Best Book of the YearFinalist for the Art Seidenbaum AwardWinner of the Writers' Guild of Canada's Danuta Gleed Literary Award for Short FictionWinner of the Canadian Jewish Book AwardShortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story AwardShortlisted for the Guardian First Book AwardShortlisted for the Governor-General's Award Title Story Included in the 2005 "Best American Short Stories" "The New Yorker," " Harper's," and "Zoetrope" introduced America to the Bermans--Bella and Roman and their son, Mark--Russian Jews who have fled the Riga of Brezhnev for Toronto, the city of their dreams. A debut collection of rare skill and verve, "Natasha" chronicles the family saga of the Bermans in stories full of heart and consequence. In "Tapka," six-year-old Mark's first experiments in English bring ruin and near tragedy to the neighbors upstairs. In "Roman Berman, Massage Therapist," Roman and Bella stake all their hopes for Roman's business on their first dinner with a North American family. In the title story, a stark, funny anatomy of first love, we witness Mark's sexual awakening at the hands of his fourteen-year-old cousin, a new immigrant from the New Russia. In "Minyan," Mark and his grandfather watch as the death of an Odessan cabdriver sets off a religious controversy among the residents of a Jewish old-people's home. The stories in "Natasha" capture the immigrant experience with wit and deep sympathy. Their evocation of boyhood and youth, and the battle for selfhood in a passionately loving Jewish family, recalls the early work of Bernard Malamud, Leonard Michaels, and Philip Roth. A "New York Times" Notable BookWinner of the Commonwealth Prize "An authority one usually finds only in more seasoned writers."--Meghan O'Rouke, "The New York Times Book Review" "An authority one usually finds only in more seasoned writers."--Meghan O'Rouke, "The New York Times Book Review" "A slim, well-observed collection."--D. T. Max, "The Nation" "An effervescent debut . . . A familiar tale of dislocation and assimilation with enough humor, honesty, and courage to make it new again . . . If the last page of 'Tapeka' doesn't stop your heart, maybe it was never beating."--"O" magazine "Deft . . . Humane but unblinkingly unsentimental . . . Fine stories that are] thick with memorable characters."--John Biguenet, "Chicago Tribune" "Exquisitely crafted stories. A first collection that reads like the work of a past master."--T. Coraghessan Boyle "While the immigrant experience in the United States has been much explored, Bezmozgis's less familiar shores are refreshing . . . The voice in Natasha is assured, inviting, and warm."--"The Economist" "A 30-year-old Canadian writer makes a commanding debut with an openhearted book that combines melancholy and hope. Its seven stories offer a portrait of a family of Latvian Jews just after they emigrate to Toronto in 1979. Told from the perspective of the Bermans' only child, Mark, this is a piercingly honest account of what that family gains and loses through assimilation. The title story, in which 16-year-old Mark is obliged to supervise his troubled Russian step-cousin, is a knockout."--"The Baltimore Sun" " The] dynamic between American Jews and their greenhorn Russian counterparts is portrayed in a creepy and painfully funny way by David Bezmozgis in 'Roman Berman, Massage Therapist, ' one of the best pieces in "Natasha and Other Stories" . . . In a wonderfully dry, understated, well-paced manner that evokes the style of the late New York Russian-language fiction writer Sergei Dovlatov, Bezmozgis captures in this story] what is, believe it or not, a type-scene of the Soviet Jewish immigrant experience. Simple detail and precise timing let such scenes resonate."--Val Vinokur, "Boston Review""""""Here in Europe the talk this year has been all about the new writing coming out of Russia. David Bezmozgis shows that this energy extends to the Russian diaspora as well. In "Natasha" Bezmozgis renders something of the clear-sighted melancholy associated with Chekhov or Babel into English prose and a North American context. With a maturity and control far beyond his years, Mr. Bezmozgis has produced a captivating and impressive debut. The title story itself is one I will never forget."--Jeffrey Eugenides "Dazzling, hilarious, and hugely compassionate narratives written with] freshness and precision . . . Readers will find themselves laughing out loud, then gasping as Bezmozgis brings these fictions to the searing, startling, and perfectly pitched conclusions that remind us that, as Babel said, 'on iron can stab the heart so powerfully as a period put in exactly in the right place.'"--Francine Prose, "People" "Sad, funny, tender tales . . . Bezmozgis] moves us along through the vagarities of assimilation and coming-of-age,