Still Here: A Novel

A profound, warm and sparklingly entertaining novel from the writer Louis Menand calls Jane Austen with a Russian soul , now in paperback

Set in a contemporary New York City enamored with technology, Still Here follows the shifting fortunes of four ambitious emigres, each at a critical point in life. Sergey, formerly a brilliant linguist in Russia, cycles through jobs as an analyst, hoping his idea for a new app - a program that will preserve a person’s online presence after death - will finally bring him success. Sergey’s wife Vica, a medical technician struggling to keep her family afloat, hungers for a better life. Sergey’s former girlfriend Regina, once a famous translator and now married to a wealthy startup owner, spends her days grieving a recent loss, getting addicted to TV and takeout. Sergey’s best friend Vadik, a programmer ever in search of the fitting lifestyle, keeps trying on different women and different New York neighborhoods, all while pining for the lost love of his life.

As Sergey develops his app (which he’s calling Virtual Grave ) and searches for investors, a formidable debate begins in the group, spurring questions about the changing perception of death in the modern world and the future of our virtual selves. What do we do with our digital legacy? How do our online personas define us in our daily lives, and what will they say about us when we’re gone?

In an absorbing and sharply observed tale marked with wry humor and pathos, acclaimed author Lara Vapnyar charts the striking trajectories of her four characters as they grapple with the challenges of their careers, loves lives, marriages, parenthood, the confusion of contemporary America and the absurdities of the digital age.