About Gary Shteyngart's novel of Super Sad True Love Story

 About Gary Shteyngart's novel of Super Sad True Love Story

 

Introduce briefly the primary and supportive characters of Gary Shteyngart's novel of Super Sad True Love Story, and then briefly describe the novel's plot.

Primary Characters

Character	Role	Key Traits
Leonard (Lenny) Abramov	Protagonist	39-year-old middle-class salesman for Post-Human Services (life-extension division of Staatling-Wapachung); son of Russian/Soviet Jewish immigrants; nostalgic for the past, struggles to adapt to society's rapid changes, kind and gentle
Eunice Park	Main character/lover	24-year-old Korean-American from New Jersey with a major in "Images"; struggles with materialism, social media obsession, and traditional Korean family pressures; insecure and needful of love

Supportive Characters

Character	Role	Key Traits
Joshie	Lenny's boss	Late sixties Jew who looks 20-something thanks to company youth technology; co-founder of Staatling-Wapachung; strong and decisive; has an affair with Eunice
Grillbitch (Jenny Kang)	Eunice's best friend	Eunice's closest friend; much about Eunice is revealed through their correspondence
Sam Park	Eunice's father	Infamous for short temper; alcoholic and physically abusive toward Chung Won
Chung Won Park	Eunice's mother	Endures relentless, unachievable expectations; subjected to father's abuse
Fabrizia DeSalva	Lenny's lover in Rome	Had relationship with Lenny before he met Eunice
Nettie Fine	Lenny's "American mother"	Helped Lenny's parents move to the USA
Ben	Eunice's ex-boyfriend	Eunice broke up with him because she felt he was "too good" for her

 

Plot Summary

The novel is set in a near-future dystopian America on the brink of economic collapse and political turmoil. Lenny Abramov, a 39-year-old salesman working for a life-extension company, has spent a year in Rome recruiting clients for indefinite life extension. On his last night in Italy, he meets 24-year-old Eunice Park at a party and falls madly in love.

After returning to the United States, Lenny pursues Eunice online. Eunice, dealing with her father's alcoholism and abuse toward her mother, moves in with Lenny. They begin a relationship, and Lenny brings her to meet his parents (who approve), but Eunice's parents reject Lenny for being non-Korean, not rich, and not attractive.

Lenny's major mistake is introducing Eunice to his boss Joshie. Despite their larger age gap, Eunice and Joshie fall for each other and begin seeing each other behind Lenny's back. Eunice finds in Joshie everything Lenny isn't: strong and decisive.

Meanwhile, America collapses: the economy ruptures, riots break out across the country, and the government can't pay the National Guard. Joshie announces the collapse is "good for business" as Chinese and Norwegian investors flood America.

Joshie eventually tells Lenny about Eunice's betrayal. Lenny breaks up with Eunice, crushed. Years pass: Eunice breaks up with Joshie and dates a Scotsman; Joshie's youth technology turns out harmful, his company dissolves, and he awaits death. Lenny writes a bestseller about his experiences during the collapse (his journal entries plus Eunice's social media messages), then changes his name and moves to the Free State of Tucson. Lenny looks forward to growing old among Americans who have no desire to live forever.