On July 2, 2009, one of the largest Ukrainian book stores, "Bukva," hosted a book signing, so we decided to put on a show for the unsuspecting public. With real sub-machine guns. A friend of ours owns a private museum full of arms, and he allowed us to borrow two machine guns and one semi-automatic pistol. We walked through the shopping center, Pyramida, without encountering any problems from the security. In my opinion, the book signing was a lot more fun with weapons.
To view photos, please click here

“Getting Gonta” is my latest short story to be published by the Observer, an excellent on-line  magazine about life in Ukraine.  This is a story of two ordinary Ukrainian fellows who embarked on an adventure of a lifetime in search of their beloved sailboat, Gonta.  It is based on real-life events, as fantastic as they may seem.  And the photographs, taken along their incredible round-the-world journey, attest to their endurance of body and spirit. 

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Jewish writer takes on Kiev gangsters
in semi-autobiographical book on Ukraine


Courtesy of Alex Frishberg
Alex Frishberg, seated at center, poses with friends dressed as characters in his semi-autobiographical novel "The Steel Barons."
By Oleksandr Gavrylyuk Published: 06/25/2007

A semi-autobiographical novel tells of a young American lawyer who gets caught up with black marketeers and ex-KGB mercenaries in the maelstrom of a newly independent Ukraine.

http://www.jta.org/

 

 Expat Wild East Novel Unveiled    
view in PDF  

  On July 25, 2006, I received the 2006 Willard Prize for Fiction. It marks the first and only time I won a literary contest. This, in itself, would have been more then enough to make my year. But then the Ukrainian Observer editor, Jim Davis, kindly presented me with the $1,500 award on the behalf of Michael Willard, CEO of The Willard Group. Now I feel extra proud to have been chosen to receive this award. On the behalf of all the previously unpublished Ukrainian authors, I sincerely hope the Willard Group will continue its promote fiction writing on subjects relating to Ukraine.

          The prize-winning story, Life on the Outpost, comes from a small collection of short stories by the same name. When read together, they paint a grim picture of one man's struggle against an increasingly oppressive government system. Unfortunately, most of my fictional stories are based on events that are currently taking place in the former USSR republics and in the U.S.

          More recently, on April 20, 2007, I wrote another short story, The Killer's Life. Hopefully you will like it.  Of course, any constructive comments are welcome.