Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories
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Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Maria Reva (Author), Allen Lewis Rickman (Narrator), Kathleen Gati (Narrator),
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 153 ratings
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"These immersive linked stories grapple with Ukrainian history through the waning years of the USSR and birth pangs of democracy ... Reva's characters spark off the page as they confront a brutal bureaucratic past with the only tool they possess—hope."—O, The Oprah Magazine

A brilliant and bitingly funny collection of stories united around a single crumbling apartment building in Ukraine, inspired by the author and her family's own experiences.

A bureaucratic glitch omits an entire building, along with its residents, from municipal records. So begins Reva's "darkly hilarious" (Anthony Doerr) intertwined narratives, nine stories that span the chaotic years leading up to and immediately following the fall of the Soviet Union. But even as the benighted denizens of 1933 Ivansk Street weather the official neglect of the increasingly powerless authorities, they devise ingenious ways to survive.

In "Bone Music," an agoraphobic recluse survives by selling contraband LPs, mapping the vinyl grooves of illegal Western records into stolen X-ray film. A delusional secret service agent in "Letter of Apology" becomes convinced he's being covertly recruited to guard Lenin's tomb, just as his parents, not seen since he was a small child, supposedly were. Weaving the narratives together is the unforgettable, chameleon-like Zaya: a cleft-lipped orphan in "Little Rabbit," a beauty-pageant crasher in "Miss USSR," a sadist-for-hire to the Eastern Bloc's newly minted oligarchs in "Homecoming."

Good Citizens Need Not Fear tacks from moments of intense paranoia to surprising tenderness and back again, exploring what it is to be an individual amid the roiling forces of history. Reva brings the black absurdism of early Shteyngart and the sly interconnectedness of Anthony Marra's Tsar of Love and Techno to a "bang-on brilliant" (Miriam Toews) collection that is "fearless and thrilling" (Bret Anthony Johnston), and as clever as it is heartfelt.

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  1. Listening Length
    6 hours and 28 minutes
  2. Author
    Maria Reva
  3. Narrator
    Allen Lewis Rickman, see all
  4. Audible release date
    March 10, 2020
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B082QC93RH
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 6 hours and 28 minutes
Author Maria Reva
Narrator Allen Lewis Rickman, Kathleen Gati, David Pittu, Yelena Shmulenson, Ilyana Kadushin
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date March 10, 2020
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B082QC93RH
Best Sellers Rank #287,826 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#72 in Absurdist Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#624 in Absurdist Fiction (Books)
#10,578 in Literary Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
153 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

M. Hyman
5.0 out of 5 stars Quirky, lovely, and capture the feel
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2020
Verified Purchase
What a fun book.A collection of intertwined short stories that take place in Ukraine, before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The characters are quirky and fun, and the author beautifully captures the feel of Ukraine. It is so easy to visualize the buildings, the characters, and the episodes that take place. Even with elements such as her list of candies I tick off the various ones that I have had and are lying around my house somewhere. There are a number of contemporary books from those with Soviet and Ukrainian backgrounds that are quite fun and this is one of them. If you are from the area looking for some fun stories, or are not but enjoy the genre or want to get a feel, this is a great collection of short stories. I look forward to the author's next book, and hope it comes out soon. Bravo. A lot of fun.
4 people found this helpful
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Grandma’s Favorite Gift
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2021
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Great short stories that threaded together beautifully. I hope to read more from this fine writer soon!
One person found this helpful
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Sarah-Hope
3.0 out of 5 stars Simultaneous Humor and Things-To-Chew-On
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2020
I had high hopes for Good Citizens Need Not Fear, a series of interconnected stories set in or near an apartment building in Ukraine that appears on no government maps. The possibilities for simultaneous humor and things-to-chew on was enticing. And this was a good book, just not as good a book as I'd hoped.

The individual stories work as stand-alones, but also fit together neatly. The writing style is direct, clear, and at times whimsical. The book makes delightful use of occasional, unusual illustrations that feel like little treats scattered about for readers to discover.

I think the main reason I didn't fall more wildly in love with this book is that it reminded me of, but did not compare successfully with, Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno. Marra's book was less humorous than Good Citizens, so they don't occupy exactly the same reading niche. Depending on individual tastes, readers will come to different decisions about which of the two the prefer. For me, the bottom line was that the relationships among characters and those characters themselves were more complex in Marra's book—and I tend to value complexity.

That said, Good Citizens Need Not Fear is an entertaining read that goes beyond humor to depict life in a part of the world currently in the news, but unfamiliar to most U.S. readers. It's worth checking out.

I received a free electronic review copy of this book from the piublishers via NetGalley. The opinions are my own.
6 people found this helpful
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derek allard
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, intertwined collection of stories
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2020
I finished reading this book this morning and it did not disappoint. It is nothing short of a triumph of writing. Each story is interconnected and center around a single ten-story apartment complex in Ukraine and the people inside. The intertwining of characters through each story is nothing short of masterful and the impact as a whole led me to say out loud this morning as I finished the last line, "Darn, she can write." I loved the clear prose as she examined these characters through different lenses and different times (the book is half before the fall of the Soviet Union and half after). That alone is worth the price of admission here. But the deep dive into the lives of people on the edges is both empathetic and powerfully humanizing. Not a word seems out of place, not a story seems superfluous ... it's really a thing of beauty. I rarely ever give a 5 star rating to any book here, but this one earned it, easily.
2 people found this helpful
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a reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it.
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2020
I loved this book-- it shows how behind every face, every wall, there is a story. I love that connecting the individual narratives there is a cohesive thread-- it turns this apartment building into a buzzing beehive of memory and life. Really nicely done. I will look for more from this author, definitely. It was engaging with a strong pace and the level of storytelling was consistent from chapter to chapter.
One person found this helpful
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jack m
5.0 out of 5 stars Human encounters with dehumanizing institutions
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2020
A fun read. This collection of short stories reflects a kind of existential pathos, resulting from human encounters with absurdly dehumanizing institutions. A sly, wicked sense of humor defends against apathy and craziness. The characters persevere in their struggle to survive, and to be recognized. We see in the description of these processes examples of a hard resilience, individual courage and even love.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Raquel Hirsch
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book!
Reviewed in Canada on February 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
It took me a couple of chapters to get into it, and then I could not put it down.

For me the penny dropped on chapter three, that it was not a series of short stories but one interconnected narrative. The plot line is credible and characters are as dark and sombre as you’d expect in a storyline that takes place at the end of the Soviet empire and the start of... whatever they got there (certainly not democracy). And yet, it has comedic moments and engaging characters.

Highly recommend.
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Dan Benjamin
4.0 out of 5 stars Na
Reviewed in Canada on July 9, 2021
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Na
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SusannahB
4.0 out of 5 stars An Original and Unusual Collection of Interconnected Stories
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2020
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Not really a novel but a collection of interconnected stories, Maria Reva's 'Good Citizens Need Not Fear' focuses on several characters, all of whom, at one time or another, spend part of their lives in the same rickety apartment block in Ukraine. Most of these stories - some of them set before the fall of the Soviet Union and others set afterwards - have a very real and very dark undercurrent running through them, others seem somewhat unreal or almost surrealistic; however, amongst the darkness are bright splashes of humour, even if that humour is often of the kind that would be termed black comedy. Unusual, original and politically aware, Maria Reva's collection is one that kept me involved from the first story to the last and, as I gobbled these stories up rather quickly, I feel that this little book would benefit from more than one reading.

4 Stars.
2 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Luv'd it!
Reviewed in Canada on October 5, 2020
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The only trouble I had with this marvellous book was remembering the characters from one story to the next, so I plan to read it again and get a better appreciation of all it has to offer. I was born and raised in Canada, but through family contacts and multiple extended visits to Ukraine, I can fully relate to the absurdity so artfully presented on every page.
One person found this helpful
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John Eyles
3.0 out of 5 stars intriguing idea on life in a controlled society
Reviewed in Canada on January 17, 2021
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This book appealed to my love of history and to seeing the dark side of life in societies without too much freedom. The reviews were also appealing. But the book is really a set of vignettes about life in communist Ukraine. Some are good - like the block of flats not in state records, others are a stretch such as roach brooches and the need to save everything of possible value. While the vignettes connect, a true story-line is obscured. May be too post-modern (if that still exists) for me,
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