A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir

by Lev Golinkin, Daniel Gamburg (Narrator)

A compelling story of two intertwined journeys: a Jewish refugee family fleeing persecution and a young man seeking to reclaim a shattered past. In the twilight of the Cold War (the late 1980s), nine-year old Lev Golinkin and his family cross the Soviet border with only ten suitcases, $600, and the vague promise of help awaiting in Vienna. Years later, Lev, now an American adult, sets out to retrace his family's long trek, locate the strangers who fought for his freedom, and in the process, gain a future by understanding his past.

Lev Golinkin's memoir is the vivid, darkly comic, and poignant story of a young boy in the confusing and often chilling final decade of the Soviet Union. It's also the story of Lev Golinkin, the American man who finally confronts his buried past by returning to Austria and Eastern Europe to track down the strangers who made his escape possible . . . and say thank you. Written with biting, acerbic wit and emotional honesty in the vein of Gary Shteyngart, Jonathan Safran Foer, and David Bezmozgis, Golinkin's search for personal identity set against the relentless currents of history is more than a memoir—it's a portrait of a lost era. This is a thrilling tale of escape and survival, a deeply personal look at the life of a Jewish child caught in the last gasp of the Soviet Union, and a provocative investigation into the power of hatred and the search for belonging. Lev Golinkin achieves an amazing feat—and it marks the debut of a fiercely intelligent, defiant, and unforgettable new voice.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Russia, History, Biography, Book Club, Biography Memoir

9 pages, Audiobook

First published November 4, 2014

Reviews

[Evie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns; why should we let them have ideas?”–Joseph Stalin

On the cusp of graduating from Boston College, Lev Golinkin finds himself at a crossroads. He can continue to alienate himself from the people around him in hopes that he won’t ever have to disclose his past, or he can embrace his heritage, and by the same measure avoid becoming a cynic at so young an age.

Opting for the latter, he retraces his family’s exodus from Ukraine, along with masses of other Russian Jews in the last days of the Soviet Union. Persecution and humiliations were an everyday occurrence for ethnic Jews in Russia, and little Lev finds himself wishing his ethnicity wasn’t so apparent. When his family decides to leave Russia with only ten little red suitcases and become refugees, there is no shortage of good Samaritans and anecdotes that they encounter along the way.

I found so many passages both darkly comedic and incredibly sad. If you’re new to Russian culture, Golinkin gives you a guided tour, from the meaning of a tea service to the designation of respect and obedience to all babushki, the backbones of the homeland. This book is so deeply personal; it’s evident that it wasn’t written for an audience, and reads almost like a travel journal. It would seem that this project helped him come to terms with his identity and ultimately start the process of loving himself. Highly recommended reading!

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

My parents had lobbied hard to get me in School Number Three, which was known for being tolerant towards Jews. Of course, I still received my share of beatings, but I suppose it was the school with the gentlest, most understanding beatings that a Jew could get.

For Lev Golinkin, born in 1980 in Kharkov, Ukraine, life was unpleasant. Everyone had a KGB horror story, and rampant anti-Semitism led to miserable school days for the young boy. In 1989, his family and hundreds of thousands of other Soviet Jews took only what they could carry, and headed for the border. Lev's story of their exodus and eventual relocation in America is both funny and frightening, and entirely absorbing.

This should be required reading for anyone who believes building a wall is the best way to handle immigration.

Thanks to the lovely and talented Eve for the recommendation.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually much more profound and, ultimately, sweeter than I had expected. I was prepared for difficult stories of this Russian Jew living in Ukraine during the final years of the Soviet Union, and I was prepared for funny and bitter stories of his family's flight, months as a refugee, ultimate resettlement in the US, and bewilderment and difficulties. I was not expecting the raw honesty of the pain he experienced, the effects on his self-esteem and self-isolation. And then I was delighted to see him beginning to move toward peace as he decided to journey back and understand his "refugeeness" by studying, revisiting the places he'd been, connecting with the people he'd encountered. Lovely, lovely story. I really connected with this, and with his family--his mother, for instance, a doctor in Ukraine, is a security guard here, due to her inability to learn much English. When I was in college, the medical practice I worked for sponsored a Jewish family from Moldova. The mother was a doctor, and the cardiologists I worked for were training her to administer and interpret echocardiograms. I didn't really get to know this woman at the time; I was just a part-time nurse's aide. But I feel like maybe I understand her story a little bit better now.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Running a totalitarian regime is simple: tell the people what they're going to do, shoot the first one to object, and repeat til everyone is on the same page."

This is the memoir of one Jewish family's escape from the USSR in 1990, when Gorbachev made it easier to emigrate to another country. Easier is a relative term because it took months of paperwork, investigations, bribery, lies and anxiety. Then actually getting across the border through sadistic guards and "missing" papers, strip searches and interrogations. At that point, you're on the other side with nothing, dependent on volunteers and Jewish organizations to get you to your chosen destination.

This family consisted of 5 members: 10 year old Lev, his older sister Lina, his engineer father and Doctor mother, and his elderly babushka (grandmother). Getting out was just the beginning of a long and arduous journey to get to America and assimilate, from language, customs, fear and mistrust to acceptance and moving on.

This was a moving account that left me close to tears several times and certainly gave me a new appreciation of the hell emigrants must go through, both emotionally and physically, to get to our country "the land of opportunity". I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but this was a timely read given what is going on right now in our own country. The Golinkins were from Ukraine before independence. Both Lev and his sister graduated from college and, along with his parents, became US citizens. I'm sure recent events have been horrifying for them all.

[Sonja Arlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ½ stars

Quite by accident I have read a lot of books this year that deals with immigration to the USA.

Whether they come from Mexico (The Distance Between Us), Zimbabwe (We Need New Names) or the USSR, there are universal struggles faced by immigrants

“There is no such thing as a young refugee. How can you be young when you already have one life behind you?”

As a child Lev was routinely bullied by other children to the point where he would do anything to avoid school. In Russia being Jewish was not a religious but rather an ethnic stigma. In fact, the USSR did its best to completely rip away any religious identity from its citizens, complements of Stalin.

So at the age of 10, Lev’s family made the decision to emigrate to America. The story follows their struggles and triumphs along the way.

The author has an easy way of writing with subtle humour present throughout but there were a few pearlers that had me laughing out loud. Especially once the family realised they will have to learn English if they had any chance at succeeding in America.

What’s “fuck”? I tilted my head towards Lina, who sat alongside me in the back of the van, feet propped on suitcases. “‘Fuck’ is a great word,” muses Lina. “You are going to love it. It’s kind of like the Swiss Army knife of English”

Writing this memoir was clearly a cathartic way for the author to excising his demons but this book is much more than just recollections of a little boy from the Soviet Union, it’s about identity and roots. And accepting this, even if you have been trying your whole life to run away from it.

This book has a good balance between historical accounts of life behind the Iron Curtain and the hard road of immigration into the USA.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of emigration was hope.

3.5 stars. This was such an interesting look at the Soviet Union in the 1980's. Through the eyes of Lev, a 9 year old Russian Jew we get to experience the insecurity of staying in a country where the rules changes all the time. He learns to hate his Jewishness, as it only brings him beatings and isolation from others. Ironically, they are able to immigrate to the USA only because they are Jewish.

I really liked his sense of humor and his honestly in recounting not only this journey, but also his feelings about himself and his parents. I've read many emigration/refugee books in the last year or so and it seems that there is always some sense of disappointment, and disconnect to their new country. I think the author did a brilliant job in explaining how the language barrier can be an especially big barrier to fitting in.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka, Lev Golinkin's account of his family's emigration from Kharkov to the US, made me laugh, made me cry, and made me think. Sometimes all three in a couple of paragraphs, as when he describes the impact of the language barrier for adult immigrants: "Then you realize this is it. This is not a vacation; this is forever...You're already old. You will never work in your field again...You will never be seen as anything more than an immigrant, or a moron, or a child." (Admittedly this excerpt leaves out the hysterically funny scenario going on simultaneously, starring two imaginary characters from an ESL textbook.)

Unlike most contemporary coming-of-age and finding-oneself stories, Golinkin's memoir is not about a crazy family, but about a rather ordinary family in extraordinary circumstances. In chronicling those circumstances, the author reveals the whole range of human actions and motivations, from the self-interested to the utterly selfless, that shape our everyday lives.

He outlines the complex support system that facilitated the mass exodus of Soviet Jews in the 1970s and 1980s, clarifying many steps in that process that had long baffled me. From a broader perspective, he also illuminates the central importance of the "American Dream" for all those who have come to these shores.

If you were in any way involved in the efforts to get Soviet Jews out of the Soviet Union, you have to read this book. And even if you weren't, you should read it.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the title of this book. I thought it was pretty creative. This was an eloquently written autobiography of a young boy's escape from communist Russia and his immigration to America. This was a fascinating read. The author was personable as he talked about his family and his experiences, and fortunately it included the good and the bad. It felt honest and because of that, I was really pulled into this. This also felt well written....but I will say I did the audio. He hopped back and forth to different times a little too much for my liking, but that wasn't a deal breaker. I still really liked this one.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best memoirs I have read by anyone, ever. Hilarious and heartbreaking, an adventure that is grounded in deep honesty and introspection. I gained greater insight into Russia from this book than I did from the 10 other Russia/nonfiction titles I read this year combined.

So. Freaking. Great.

[La Crosse County Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally published March 2017

I don’t read a lot of non-fiction. I’d rather escape from reality during my precious reading time, so it was with something less than excitement that I perused the nonfiction section at the Onalaska Library looking for a book to fulfill any of the several nonfiction books I’d need to read to fulfill tasks on this year’s Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge. As I’m looking, my eyes settle on a small orange book with the word vodka in it-catchy! The full title is A Backpack, A Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka by Lev Golinkin.

It’s a memoir about his family’s immigration out of former Soviet Ukraine during the late ‘90s. Since the #5 task on my reading challenge is “Read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative,” this fit perfectly! I devoured it in a few days and it got me thinking about immigration in a more current vein. I became intrigued by this notion of new immigrants. We hear a lot about the stories of our great (& great, great, etc.) grandparents and the European immigrants who came to this country via Ellis Island, but what about the families that are coming to this country now and over the last couple of decades? I can’t say I know much about the gen X or millennial immigrant’s struggles, but knew of other books where I could learn more.

Lev Golinkin���s childhood in Soviet Ukraine was fraught with struggle. Lev’s family were Russian Jews in a time when practicing that faith wasn’t allowed (not that they were practicing, but still-It’s the principle!) in that country. They were an oppressed people with little to none of the modern amenities that we take for granted in our country. They lived under a regime in which they were in constant fear of being put in jail or worse. His family’s flight out of the country was a long process that didn’t happen overnight. I really knew nothing about this country, so I was fascinated by his retelling of how they got out (there were many stops between Ukraine and their new home in the U.S.)

His family’s American assimilation wasn’t smooth sailing, but eventually, Lev also ended up living the American Dream. I really loved this story. It sounds like it might be depressing, but it’s actually sprinkled with quite a bit of humor, much of it surrounding Lev’s joy of torturing his older sister and his growing-boy way of looking at the world. I felt like I went on a journey with him. He takes the reader along on his travels through his memories as he’s discovering his family and his place as an American.

Trevor Noah, who currently hosts The Daily Show, recently released his memoir titled, Born a Crime. This is the title because when he was born, it was literally a law in Johannesburg, South Africa that a black woman and a white man could not have relations. Trevor, being the product of such a union, was therefore, born a crime- Ha! The title gives the reader a good sense for where his story goes and how he’s going to tell it: with humor and no holds barred! I was shocked by the life this seemingly together, articulate, and successful comedian had growing up in South Africa.

He and his mother lived under apartheid rule for the first six years of his life and the rest of it was no walk in the park. He tells his amazing story with his own blend of humor and candor while touching on everything from apartheid to religion, to the intricacies of race to his mother’s struggle with her abusive husband. I really enjoyed this book on audio, especially since he reads it himself and is fluent in the many languages that he relays in the book (he is in fact, a polyglot; someone who speaks many languages)! Ok, true confession: he actually isn’t an American citizen, he’s got Canadian citizenship. But that’s still North America so I think it counts.

I’m not going to review this for the sake of brevity, but I can also recommend In the Country We Love, My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero. Another very interesting and completely different take on a person with a story to tell of immigration struggles.

Find this book and other titles within our catalog.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic memoir that combines a unique story, humor, history, analysis, and philosophical questioning, among other things. It is highly accessible for the interested reader and it combines the narrative elements with the historical/philosophical seamlessly and not without humor at poignant and memorable times. Bravo!

[Bibliovoracious · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional memoir of the refugee experience, which is unfortunately all too common these days.

[Wyndy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

“The Soviet behemoth sprawled across eleven time zones, swallowing up one-sixth of the world's landmass and scores of ethnicities, from dark-haired Chechens to blue-eyed Latvians. Holding this bloated cultural Frankenstein together was one rule: no one leaves.”

But on December 23, 1989, at the apex of peretroiska, young Lev Golinkin and his father, mother, sister and grandmother became members of the last major exodus of Russian Jews from the USSR, leaving their home in Kharkov, Ukraine and crossing the Soviet-Czechoslovak Border into freedom and uncertainty after nightmarish years of repression and terror. The cause and consequence of this crossing, both historically, physically and mentally, is the subject of Lev’s memoir.

“Now we were truly refugees. Back on Soviet soil we had belonged to a nation, however horrible that nation was, but here, beyond the fence, we were ghosts, drifters, entities with no recognizable destination or attachment. This awkward freedom of being beholden to nothing save for the mercy of others still lingers in my psyche and, I imagine, in the psyche of many ex-migrants.”

Mr. Golinkin opens his story with a Prologue describing his graduation day from Boston College in 2003 when he faces the critical reality that he must revisit and reclaim his past in order to build a functioning future for himself. He leads us through his first days of school in 1987 in Ukraine, highlighting Communist early-childhood indoctrination policies and Jewish persecution, then guides us through his family’s preparations to make their life-altering and terrifying departure from the USSR, then takes us through their journey from Czechoslovakia to Austria to the United States. He ends his story full circle with his decision, after college graduation, to return to the places and people of his childhood to reconnect and offer thanks. His voice throughout varies between humorous, sarcastic, angry, hateful, melancholy and grateful, depending on the memory, but it always rings with honesty. This is an emotional and eye-opening narrative of emigration, self discovery and self acceptance:

“As much as I’m still a work in progress, I have no doubt about the power of the seeds I can plant.”
~ Lev Golinkin, 2011

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lev Golinkin's personal memoir proves to be a timely addition to the current crisis the world is facing with regards to refugee status. A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka tells the story of the Golinkin family seen through the eyes of youngest son Lev as his father, mother, older sister Lina and grandmother alongside young 9 year Lev immigrate from their native Kharkov Ukraine eventually making their way to Indiana USA from 1989-1990. The Golinkin family, having a Jewish background, were heavily persecuted under the Soviet Union. With Mikhail Gorbachev taking power, Jews had an easier ability to immigrate outside the Soviet Union, and the Golinkin family, with their sights set on the USA, do just that. It truly is a fascinating tale. Using Vienna as a hub (which was typical of Jewish refugees at the time), the Golinkin family continually faces the difficulties of refugee life, from the housing status to the foreign language barriers to hostile natives. Along the way they receive help from a variety of people including an organization dedicated to helping Jewish people reach the USA, humanitarian aid, and an Austrian baron who is badass in every sense of the word. Lev Golinkin's story is one of timeless struggles of self acceptance, cultural identity, hardship, and the help one receives along the way in life. In addition, it is a remembrance of just what the USA stands for, and just how important is it to remember that.

[Agnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una famiglia ebrea, anni ‘90, riesce a fuggire, con mille difficoltà e sacrifici, dall’Unione Sovietica.
Dopo una sosta in Austria ( dove, oltre a Vienna, visitano località che conosco bene) ed altre peripezie, riusciranno a ricostruire la loro vita in America.
Storia vera vissuta dallo scrittore.
Un inno alla speranza ed alla positività, con la riconoscenza nei confronti di tutti coloro che, in maniera disinteressata , li aiutarono a sopravvivere ed a raggiungere la loro meta ed una vita serena.
5 stelle per il mio apprezzamento, la lettura scorrevole e per quanto mi ha fatto stare bene.

[Marianna Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5 stars

We are repeatedly told not to judge the book by its cover, and in most cases it's a very good piece of advice. However, there are occasional exceptions to this, and this book was such an exception for me. A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka by Lev Golinkin was a classic case of "cover buy": my friend and I were browsing the shelves at Barnes & Noble, and this book caught my eye. I was born and raised in Ukraine, so even just the title and cover of this book spoke to me. Imagine my reaction when the inside flap told me this was a memoir that had to do with emigration and finding yourself in a new environment. I had to read it.

I think the beautiful thing about A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka is that it will speak to almost anyone. Obviously, anybody who had to deal with emigrating from the Soviet Union in the '80s, or later from the former republics, will instantly connect with Lev's story. On the other hand, those who have not experienced moving from one country to another will find this book an eye-opening experience. And of course, anyone can relate to soul searching and worrying about what the future holds. Within its first pages, there is a phrase that defines this whole book:

"... the one thing that finally sank into my head is that you can’t have a future if you don’t have a past."

The author comes back to this idea later, and it becomes more and more relevant the further you get into the story. Something else that I wanted to bring up is the concept of the language barrier and what it really means—something I don't think a lot of people consider when they talk to immigrants. The author talks about how people get impatient, or angry when someone from a different country is having trouble understanding them, and how frustrating and embarrassing this can get. Furthermore, the language barrier is something that not only keeps a person from getting professional employment, but also makes them feel like a lesser person, because none of what you knew or could express before is relevant:

"You no longer have opinions. You don’t have jokes, or consolations, or conversations, or amusements, or experiences, or perspectives built over a lifetime. They’re useless, like you. How are you going to share them? With whom? You are an animal, mooing and mumbling and excuse me-ing your way through the smallest chore, the most inconsequential grocery store errand.
And that’s how the language barrier works."

There are so many quotes from this memoir that I wanted to write down and share, and so many things I related to. This book immediately hooked me, and it wasn't just because I knew EXACTLY what the author was talking about—it was the honest, unapologetic way the author spoke through his writing. There may have been things that I didn't agree with, but that didn't take away from how much I connected with and enjoyed this memoir. It made me sad, it made me angry, and it even made me inexplicably nostalgic a few times—it was a very emotional read for me.

So, after all of this you may be wondering why I gave this memoir 4.5 instead of 5 stars. Well, the thing is there were a few details that bugged me. I'm not going to nitpick, since they aren't things that make a huge difference in the story, and unless you're familiar with the specifics you won't even notice them. Generally, I wrote them off to author's personal experience, and I still recommend this book to everyone. I loved it!

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the things I really liked about "A Backpack, a Bear and Eight Crates of Vodka" is its balance. It's not just about the bad times or experiences. It's also about the funny, victorious, hopeful and compassionate moments. I was completely taken in by the relationship between Lev and his older sister, Lina - the clever way the two teased one another and "got even" for tricks played was full of humor and good cheer. On the other hand, I was just as riveted by Lev's family's terrifying ordeal at the border when they were trying to exit the USSR (vicious people were in control of whether his family would be locked up instead of permitted to leave the country).

The people Lev and his family meet are just as compelling as Lev and his family. The reader meets various people from charitable organizations who are committed and make a huge difference in the lives of these Jewish refugees. The way Lev introduces them and tells their stories (with warmth and affection) sparks the reader to feel deeply and appreciate these people as if we knew them ourselves. From Binder, who gladly opens up his hotel to help house and feed the refugees on their journey, to Eva, who gives away free clothing - there's a clear, unhurried picture of each person or group of people who helped along the way and their stories/kindnesses.

There is the big picture in this memoir, but also little details (Lev learning the alphabet; Lina getting a job; Lev's dad working for free just to get a good recommendation to take to the U.S. with them) and everyday life that brings Lev, his family, people who threaten and cause problems as well as those who care and help, to vivid life. You can't help but read on; the story pulls you in and you find you'd rather stay in it than put the book down to do other things you must do (like work).

[Audrey Mckay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was given to me a few months back by Goodreads Author (and ahem my Aunt) Karen Harrington. Instead of diving in I decide to 'save' it for when life settled and I could sit poolside and enjoy this in the quiet and sunshine. Now while I don't regret this decision, I now know I SHOULD HAVE READ THIS EARLIER.

Unlike so many books, from start to finish not a single word is wasted. I appreciated every anecdote as they all contributed to both his journey to the US and the journey back as he finally comes to terms with his identity.

The story is moving, Lev is hilarious and adorable in his younger years (footnoting sources for innocent sibling retaliation against the curse of having an older sister), relatable and heartbreaking as a young adult (mental abuse from his days in Ukraine following him for decades) and simply put: I wish we were friends.

I will recommend this book to everyone who ever asks for a blind recommendation. Without question it is now a personal favorite.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epic journey in more than one respect. A family of Jews from the Ukraine flees daily persecution at home to the freedom of Austria and ultimately the U.S. In this way Lev Golinkin's memoir of fear, flight, family and friends provides an insight into the experiences and feelings of hundreds of thousands of Russian Jews who made a similar journey in the late 1980's and early 1990's. But this memoir is more than that. It's true universality comes to us as Lev allows us readers to witness his self-loathing harden into hate which ultimately drives his journey to self-acceptance and a deep commitment to return, where he can, the kind of assistance that his family received; the kind that creates hope.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lev Golinkin has written a book that is both very personal and universal. As an 8-year old, he and his family are able to escape Gorbachev’s Russia. He paints a vivid picture of Russia where people are assaulted not just under the brutal insanity of a repressive government, but also under conviction of the crime of being Jewish. His personal story is heart-breaking and ultimately triumphant but the picture he paints of refugees and the people who help them is an ongoing story. There is a place for all of us in this story. I have rarely read a book that brought me to tears but this one did.

[Iva · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a necessary reminder of how bad life was in the former Soviet Union, Lev Golinkin reveals his family's journey to the United States. His parents and sister must adjust to whatever is thrown at them as they escape and arrive in Vienna, Indiana and finally New Jersey. Golinkin was nine then, but as an adult felt compelled to retrace the steps that brought him to the U.S. His interest was to find the people who made his escape possible. It is a well-written, revealing and compelling story told with compassion and honesty.

[Levi Lerner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love this book! I started out reading it thinking it’ll be a cool immigration story, similar to that of my own (my Jewish family ran from Kiev in ‘88), but the book turned into so much more. I almost lost it in the final chapters of the book, it really touched me. Lev pulls no emotional punches. This one is a must!

[Natália Adamíková · Rating 5 out of 5]

Z kníh, ktoré som zatiaľ o emigrantoch čítala, ma táto dostala najviac. Emigrácia očami malého chlapca, ale zachytené aj to, čo takéto životné rozhodnutie znamenalo pre dospelých. Je tam všetko - okolnosti, ktoré rodinu donútili opustiť Sovietsky zväz, celá neľahká cesta aj život v novej krajine. Dokument napísaný krásnym beletristickým jazykom. Zároveň je to osobná spoveď, vyrovnávanie sa s traumou, hľadanie seba samého a poďakovanie ľuďom, ktorých autor na svojej ceste stretol. A dojal ma svojou úprimnosťou a autentickosťou, nie je to žiadne lacné žmýkanie citov, skôr sa tie city schovávajú za drsný jazyk a humor, ale napokon sa dostanú na povrch.

[Melissa Joulwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. I DEVOURED this book.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a bit of language, but overall this was an interesting telling of the story of many Jews of the Soviet era.

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story, tedious read! And way too long.

[Lindsey Skole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lev Golinkin’s A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka is an eye opening, dark, yet uplifting novel. It combines history, human interactions and emotions, and faint humor to create the ultimate memoir.

The story begins in Soviet Russia, where the Jewish Golinkin family lives in constant fear and persecution. Lev Golinkin, the narrator and author, recalls his struggles as a young Jewish boy in the USSR. He faces discrimination, maltreatment, and oppression from his friends, teachers, fellow apartment residents, and many other people. After years of dismay, his family decides to leave the USSR, and the book explains the struggles of leaving Russia as a Jew during the mid to late 1900s. Eventually once they make it out, the Golinkins are held in Vienna, where they wait until the United States claims to have room for them. Once they travel to and settle down in America, Golinkin recounts the hardships that a foreign and formerly oppressed family faces in a new country. The memoir spans over Golinkin’s life as an adolescent to a young adult, and through it all he grapples with his identity, as a Jew and as a person.

One particularly captivating moment in the book is the end, when Golinkin is talking to his college philosophy professor about what he wants to do with his life post college. The professor offers advice to Golinkin, and therefore second handedly to the reader, which changed the way the author and I, the reader, viewed decision-making. Golinkin’s ultimate choice reveals true progression in his character and shows how a person’s past actions and thoughts do not define him or her.

My only complaint about the book was that it dragged a bit in the middle, but almost all the points of the plot were beneficial to the reader’s understanding and to the storyline. On the contrary, this book was the first memoir I read that I finished and did not grow bored of mid way through. The lessons I learned and the fact that I had never known about the struggles of Jewish people during this time kept me intrigued and wanting to read more of the book.

Overall, this memoir is exquisitely written, the story is captivating and eye opening, and it keeps the reader interested. If someone is looking for a memoir to expose him/herself to a new and not adequately discussed aspect of the time period in which the book takes place, I would highly recommend A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka.

[Olga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, maybe it would not really deserve 5 stars for literary merit...but for personal reasons. I loved this very engaging, readable and often entertaining memoir of emigration from Ukraine by a 10 year old boy as well as his grown up journey to find his benefactors and say thank you. In fact, I much preferred this straightforward story to the famous Gary Shteyngart's "Little Failure", to which this book will be compared frequently.
Yes, their stories had some parallels to my own emigration story. Unlike these authors', mine happened in 1979, way before perestroika, and the big alliyah. And I was 20, not 10. And alone. My parents were not there to cushion the trip, to provide sense of safety (yes, despite all their hardships, both these guys were safe during their refugee sagas because it was the parents who were responsible for finding shelter and food, not the kids). But the trauma of being a refugee, of leaving all you had ever known behind (but still having your caring parents, sister and grandmother near), childhood filled with being beaten as a "kike" and subsequent self-loathing, all these are vividly shown, and are very affecting.
I found Golinkin's story more dramatic and more affecting than Shteyngart's, and his writing to be much more accessible, albeit less "modernistic" and pretentious.
But most of all I am grateful to Golinkin for snippets (by far not enough) of "backstory", where he attempted to find out how the Western world (read: the US) had worked and succeeded in rescuing the Soviet Jewry. His glimpses into the workings of HIAS and Joint, although just glimpses, are quite telling. For deeper and more detailed analyses of these historic events one could turn to actual histories: http://sovietjewishimmigration.com/.
I really enjoyed this book, and would love to share it with Ameircans who ask...

[Annalisa Ponti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vincitore Premio Salerno 2017.
Autobiografico, il libro permette, in prima battuta, di conoscere una vicenda storica poco nota, quella degli ebrei sovietici perseguitati e in fuga verso gli USA (potrebbe essere utile leggere in parallelo anche Potok, per esempio).
L’ambientazione storica è fondamentale e dà spessore ad alcuni passaggi cruciali del Novecento: l’antisemitismo, il totalitarismo, il crollo dell’Unione Sovietica. Ancora più attuale, il tema dei rifugiati politici, raccontato dal punto di vista di un giovane uomo che con fatica ricerca la propria identità ripercorrendo la propria vicenda personale, di bambino ebreo di 10 anni in fuga dall’Ucraina sovietica verso il “sogno americano”.
Centrale è la riflessione sulla condizione complessa del migrante: l’umiliazione e la dolorosa disillusione rispetto ai progetti, il problema linguistico, i tentativi verso la costruzione di una nuova identità. In particolare, il libro porta in primo piano le contraddizioni tra i progetti dei genitori e le reazioni dei figli che possono non capire (e non assecondare) i sacrifici dei genitori: molto efficace la caratterizzazione della figura della madre, da psichiatra a vigilante, a causa delle sue difficoltà con l’inglese.
Più in generale, si tratta di un eccellente scritto di formazione (e torna il parallelo con Potok).
Scrittura semplice, immediata; forse un prodotto non perfetto (la seconda parte è meno incisiva), ma con il raro pregio della autenticità. Da far leggere a scuola.

[Jill Shunk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I've ever won. Definitely would make an excellent read for a book club or classroom discussion.

Lev Golinkin tells a very interesting and engaging story about his life in the USSR, his family's escape and life as a 10-year-old Jewish refugee who winds up in the USA. However, what makes this a 5-star read is the last quarter or so of the book where he describes, acknowledges, and deals with the aftermath of his experiences. I found myself crying without the ability to say exactly why. Golinkin never contrives or asks for my sympathy; he just relates what was. I have never had more understanding or respect for refugees, aid workers, their organizations, and all the random individuals who impact lives in seemingly small (but actually huge) ways.