Red Weather

The setting is Milwaukee, Wisconsinif not America's heart, then at least its liverhome to an array of breweries and abandoned factories and down-on-their-luck Eastern European immigrants. The year is 1989. Revolutions are sweeping through the nations of the Eastern Bloc. Communism is unraveling. And nobody feels this unraveling more piquantly than Yuri Balodisa fifteen-year-old first-generation American living with his Latvian-immigrant parents in Milwaukee's Third Ward. It's a turbulent time. And when Yuri falls in love with Hannah Grahamthe daring daughter of a prominent local socialistchaos ensues. Within weeks, Yuri is ensnared by both Hannah and socialism. He joins the staff of theSocialist Worker. He starts quoting Lenin and Marx indiscriminately. His parents, of course, are horrified and deeply saddened. They try to educate him, to show him why, in their opinion, communism has ruined so many lives. But Yuri is stubborn. And his ideological betrayal will have more serious consequences than breaking his parents' hearts. Red Weatheris by turns funny and bittersweet, tinged with a rueful comic sense that will instantly remind you of the absurd complications of love. Pauls Toutonghi's stunning debut novel is at once reminiscent of Michael Chabon'sThe Mysteries of Pittsburghand Khaled Hosseini'sThe Kite Runner. From the Hardcover edition.

Pauls Toutonghi is a first-generation American. He has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, and his writing has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Zoetrope, One Story, and the Boston Review. He lives in Brooklyn.


From the Hardcover edition.