Books
"Groundhog Times"
“The Building”
was published in April of 2003 by "Limbus Press" of St. Petersburg, Russia (hardcover).
The debut novel of New York writer Vladimir Grjonko is a story about a building built by a crazy millionaire: a trap building inhabited by strange people who have voluntarily left the real world. We follow the tragic outcomes of this reality, which give rise to quite clear and terrible connotations.
“The Wedding”
was published in April of 2004 by "Amphora" Publishers, St. Petersburg, Russia (hardcover).
The novel of Russian American Vladimir Grjonko is surprising and astonishing. With an abundance of avant-garde techniques, the plot of the book is built in such a way that it is difficult to break away from it. Strangely enough, from this absurdist novel you will learn about modern New York, with its deep technicalism and just as deep provinciality, more than from a dozen "special" editions.
"Doorway for the Butterfly"
was published in August of 2007 by "Fluid" Publishing House, Moscow, Russia (hardcover).
A distant descendant of the prodigy Mozart, Billy discovers unusual abilities in himself. According to family tradition, the talent of Mozart did not disappear with his death, but passed from generation to generation. But the Gift, which can no longer be realized in music, is modified and necessarily manifested in something else. Balancing on the edge of reality and the delirium imposed by the subconscious, Billy finds himself in a chilling detective story…
"To the city and the world" Storybook
was published in June of 2008 by " Lenizdat " Publishing House "RuFilms", St. Petersburg, Russia
All of us are observers and participants in the life of the cities and towns where we were born, and where fate has brought us. Each city writes a book of its existence, consisting of thousands and millions of simultaneously occurring events. We actively write some pages of this book. The collection is only a small but very bright part of the Great Urban Book.
“Pilgrim. American Roulette”
2008
The main character is a homeless Russian adventurer, a “citizen of the universe”. He calls himself a “Pilgrim”, because, unlike the homeless that come to mind, he has been traveling the world for years, across borders and customs.
This time the Pilgrim arrives in New York, where, due to a ridiculous coincidence, he becomes involved in the ongoings of a mysterious organization – a kind of an agency that makes one’s wishes come true for very rich and influential people.
“Groundhog Time”
was published in March of 2018 by "The New Review" Literary Magazine, New York
The novel “Groundhog Time” is a modern take on the endlessly recurring biblical stories about love, betrayal, actions that can change a human life, and most importantly, about the trials every one must undergo.
The novel contains a series of allusions, referring the knowledgeable reader to the “Master and Margarita”, but is in no case making an attempt to continue or, worse, remake, the great novel.
Barbara Demick “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea”
was published in April of 2013 by "Alpina Non-Fiction" Publishing House, Moscow, Russia (hardcover). Translation by Vladimir Grjonko et al. Official website of the book: nothingtoenvy.com
Following six North Koreans over the course of 15 years, Demick offers a haunting portrait of life in North Korea. Her subjects are instantly relatable – they fall in love, raise families – but as their country grows increasingly isolated, totalitarian, and repressive, and is ravaged by unemployment and famine, they risk everything to leave. The book won the U.K.'s top non-fiction prize, the Samuel Johnson award, in 2010 and was a finalist for both the National Book Awards and a National Book Critics Circle Awards.