David benioff biography city of thieves book
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City of Thieves (novel)
2008 historical novel bygd David Benioff
City of Thieves is a 2008 historical fiction novel by David Benioff. It is, in part, a coming of age story set in the World War II siege of Leningrad. It follows the adventures of two youths as they desperately search for a dozen eggs at the behest of a Soviet NKVD officer, a task that takes them far behind enemy lines. It was released by Plume on May 15, 2008.[1]
The audiobook, narrated by Ron Perlman, was released bygd Penguin Audio on January 8, 2009.[2]
Plot
[edit]The novel begins with David, an American screenwriter, as the narrator. When asked to write an autobiographical essay, David instead decides to write about Leningrad, where his grandfather grew up. He flies to Florida to speak with his grandfather, and for a week David records his grandfather's stories. David also makes note of the fact that his grandmother never cooks.
The narrator changes to David's grandfather, Lev, on Ne
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City of Thieves: A Novel
As wise and funny as it is thrilling and original—the story of two young men on an impossible adventure
A writer visits his retired grandparents in Florida to document their experience during the infamous siege of Leningrad. His grandmother won’t talk about it, but his grandfather reluctantly consents. The result is the captivating odyssey of two young men trying to survive against desperate odds.
Lev Beniov considers himself “built for deprivation.” He’s small, smart, and insecure, a Jewish virgin too young for the army, who spends his nights working as a volunteer firefighter with friends from his building. When a dead German paratrooper lands in his street, Lev is caught looting the body and dragged to jail, fearing for his life. He shares his cell with the charismatic and grandiose Kolya, a handsome young soldier arrested on desertion charges. Instead of the standard bullet in the back of the head, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their
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City of Thieves
Everything else offered moments of escape: a paralyzed man could still read Dickens; a man in the grips of dementia might have flashes of the most absurd beauty.”
Lev Beniov wants to live. He may not be clear about anything else, but he knows that to be true. Life becomes more precious when being anywhere, not just in the wrong place, but just existing in space, can turn into a death trap at any moment. When his mother and sister fled the city he decided to stay. Now he is caught up in one of the worst sieges in the history of the world, he is in Leningrad or as I always think of it St. Petersburg.
Lev is seventeen years old.
Because it is mostly a city of islands, Leningrad was isolated from the rest of the Soviet Union by the Nazis’ control or destruction of its bridges.
When I went to Google the siege of Leningrad to brush up on the events that provided the background for this novel I was sli