{"title":"Johannes Lichtman","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"such-good-work-book-johannes-lichtman-9781501195662","title":"Such Good Work","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom Johannes Lichtman comes a wisely comic debut novel about a teacher whose efforts to stay sober land him in Sweden, but the refugee crisis forces a very different kind of reckoning.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eYou don't have to be perfect to do good...\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Jonas Anderson wants a fresh start.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e He's made plenty of bad decisions in his life, and at age twenty-eight he's been fired from yet another teaching position after assigning homework like, \u003ci\u003eAttend a stranger's funeral and write about it\u003c\/i\u003e. But, he's sure a move to Sweden, the country of his mother's birth, will be just the thing to kick-start a new and improved--and newly sober--Jonas.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e When he arrives in Malmo in 2015, the city is struggling with the influx of tens of thousands of Middle Eastern refugees. Driven by an existential need to \"do good,\" Jonas begins volunteering with an organization that teaches Swedish to young migrants. The connections he makes there, and one student in particular, might send him down the right path toward fulfillment--if he could just get out of his own way.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eSuch Good Work\u003c\/i\u003e is, indeed, a bit Jonas-like: it's wary of affectation or grandstanding; it works small, as if from a sense of modesty, a reluctance to presume; it cuts sincerity with the driest of humor\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e). In his debut, Lichtman, \"a remarkable thinker and social satirist\" (\u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e), spins a darkly comic story, brought to life with wry observations and searing questions about our modern world, and told with equal measures of grace and wit.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49982428315921,"sku":"GOR013235230","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50290927042833,"sku":"CIN1501195662G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51031264198929,"sku":"NIN9781501195662","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51324607955217,"sku":"CIN1501195662VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1501195662.jpg?v=1750796469"},{"product_id":"such-good-work-book-johannes-lichtman-9781501195648","title":"Such Good Work","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom Johannes Lichtman comes a wisely comic debut novel\u0026gt;\u003cb\u003eabout a teacher whose efforts to stay sober land him in Sweden, but the refugee crisis forces a very different kind of reckoning.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eYou\u0026gt;\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003edon't\u0026gt;\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ehave to be perfect to do good. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJonas Anderson wants a fresh start. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHe's made plenty of bad decisions in his life, and at age twenty-eight he's been fired from yet another teaching position after assigning homework like, \u003ci\u003eAttend a stranger's funeral and write about it\u003c\/i\u003e. But, he's sure a move to Sweden, the country of his mother's birth, will be just the thing to kick-start a new and improved--and newly sober--Jonas. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen he arrives in Malmo in 2015, the city is struggling with the influx of tens of thousands of Middle Eastern refugees. Driven by an existential need to do good, Jonas begins volunteering with an organization that teaches Swedish to young migrants. The connections he makes there, and one student in particular, might send him down the right path toward fulfillment--if he could just get out of his own way. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eSuch Good Work\u0026gt;\u003c\/i\u003eis, indeed, a bit Jonas-like: it's wary of affectation or grandstanding; it works small, as if from a sense of modesty, a reluctance to presume; it cuts sincerity with the driest of humor (\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e). In his debut, Lichtman, a remarkable thinker and social satirist (\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e), spins a darkly comic story, brought to life with wry observations and searing questions about our modern world, and told with equal measures of grace and wit.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50096081469713,"sku":"CIN1501195646G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50385689280785,"sku":"CIN1501195646A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53459707003153,"sku":"GOR010571364","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1501195646.jpg?v=1750988745"},{"product_id":"calling-ukraine-book-johannes-lichtman-9781982156817","title":"Calling Ukraine","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50404784439569,"sku":"CIN1982156813G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51063712710929,"sku":"NIN9781982156817","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1982156813.jpg?v=1750728412"},{"product_id":"calling-ukraine-book-johannes-lichtman-9781982156831","title":"Calling Ukraine","description":"\u003cb\u003eNational Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and author of \u003ci\u003eSuch Good Work\u003c\/i\u003e Johannes Lichtman returns with a novel that is strikingly relevant to our times--about an American who takes a job in Ukraine in 2018, only to find that his struggle to understand the customs and culture is eclipsed by a romantic entanglement with deadly consequences.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Shortly after his thirtieth birthday, John Turner receives a call from an old college friend who makes him an odd job offer: move to Ukraine to teach customer service agents at a start-up how to sound American. John's never been to Ukraine, doesn't speak Ukrainian, and is supposed to be a journalist, not a consultant. But having just gone through a breakup and still grieving his father's death, it might just be the new start he's been looking for.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In Ukraine, John understands very little--the language and social customs are impenetrable to him. At work, his employees are fluent in English but have difficulty grasping the concept of \"small talk.\" And although he told himself not to get romantically involved while abroad, he can't help but be increasingly drawn to one of his colleagues.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Most distressing, however, is the fact that John can hear, through their shared wall, his neighbor beating his wife. Desperate to help, John offers the neighbor 100,000 hryvnias to stop. It's a plan born out of the best intentions, but one that has disastrous repercussions that no amount of money or altruism can solve.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"[A] biting comedy\" (\u003ci\u003eVanity Fair\u003c\/i\u003e) that calls to mind Garth Greenwell's \u003ci\u003eWhat Belongs to You\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCalling Ukraine\u003c\/i\u003e reimagines the American-abroad novel. Moving effortlessly between the comic and the tragic, Johannes Lichtman deploys his signature wry humor and startling moral insight to illuminate the inevitable complexities of doing right by others.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51063714283793,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51063716839697,"sku":"NIN9781982156831","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53052501000465,"sku":"CIN198215683XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/198215683X.jpg?v=1751157034"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-au\/collections\/author-books-by-johannes-lichtman.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}