close
Calling Ukraine: A Novel Audiobook, by Johannes Lichtman Play Audiobook Sample

Calling Ukraine: A Novel Audiobook

Calling Ukraine: A Novel Audiobook, by Johannes Lichtman Play Audiobook Sample
FlexPass™ Price: $15.95
$9.95 for new members!
(Includes UNLIMITED podcast listening)
  • Love your audiobook or we'll exchange it
  • No credits to manage, just big savings
  • Unlimited podcast listening
Add to Cart
$9.95/m - cancel anytime - 
learn more
OR
Regular Price: $19.99 Add to Cart
Read By: Dan Bittner Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Listen Time: at 1.0x Speed 4.33 hours at 1.5x Speed 3.25 hours at 2.0x Speed Release Date: April 2023 Format: Unabridged Audiobook ISBN: 9781797149981

Quick Stats About this Audiobook

Total Audiobook Chapters:

22

Longest Chapter Length:

41:50 minutes

Shortest Chapter Length:

05 seconds

Average Chapter Length:

17:32 minutes

Audiobooks by this Author:

2

Other Audiobooks Written by Johannes Lichtman: > View All...

Publisher Description

National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and author of Such Good Work 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.

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 startup 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 break-up and the death of his father, it might just be the new start he’s been looking for.

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.

Most distressing, however, is the fact that John can hear, through their shared wall, his neighbor beating his wife. Desperate to help, John decides to offer the neighbor 100,000 hryvnias to stop. It’s a plan born out the best intentions, but one that has disastrous repercussions that no amount of money or altruism can resolve.

Like Ben Lerner’s Leaving the Atocha Station and Garth Greenwell’s What Belongs to You, Calling Ukraine reimagines the American-abroad novel. Moving effortlessly between the comic and the tragic, Johannes Lichtman deploys his signature wry humor and startling moral acuity to illuminate the inevitable complexities of doing right by others.

Download and start listening now!

Calling Ukraine Listener Reviews

Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!

About Johannes Lichtman

Johannes Lichtman was born in Stockholm and raised in California. He holds an MFA in fiction from UNC Wilmington and an MA in literature, culture, and media from Lund University. His work has appeared in American Short Fiction, Los Angeles Review of Books, Oxford American, The Sun, Sydsvenskan, and elsewhere. He lives in Portland and Ukraine. Such Good Work is his first novel.

About Dan Bittner

Dan Bittner is an actor and voice talent and winner of several AudioFile Earphones Awards for audio narration. He has starred on stage and on the screen, in movies such as Men in Black, Adventureland, and the Producers: The Movie Musical. He has also appeared onstage as Macbeth and Sherlock Holmes in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.