A very pleasant listen. Equal parts amusing and starkly honest. Yelchin has a solid ability to find the humor in most any situation. The chapters are short so it moves quickly. THe narration is accented so it is a touch difficult to understand at a few points but mostly easily understood. It addresses a fairly dark point in history without becoming dour or heavy.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* loved this audiobook! the book itself is great but the audiobook really gives it the extra touch

This was a charming memoir giving a window into life in the USSR, sometimes funny or absurd, other times poignant. I listened to the audiobook, which was read by the author himself, with his accent giving the stories more life. However, since he is an illustrator, I rather wished I had read it and seen the illustrations. So I guess it depends--if you're a more visual person, get the hard copy, while if you are more auditory, get the audiobook.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I'm not sure if I got the point of this book. I sense the author's hostility and envy of Americans throughout the story; I will forgive it since I am not from that time period and can understand how a Russian might conjure up those feelings for Americans in those times. This is a coming of age story about a young boy who learns about his family in the tiny apartment he shares with his parents, grandmother, and brother. Who knew so many secrets could be kept in such small spaces in Cold War Russia.

Review of an eArc audiobook through NetGalley.

I loved listening to Eugene Yelchin's voice telling his own stories of his childhood. His family shares an apartment with several other families in Leningrad, including a KGB informant. Yelchin convincingly describes the fog of fear and repression that came with living under the Soviet Union, but combines it with a uniquely Russian sense of dark humor. The stories all tie together as Yevgeny (Евгений) tries to live up to his parents' expectations and find a path for himself. He's not into sports or ice skating (like his brother), he pretends to be into ballet to please his mother who works with Mikhail Baryshnikov, but that doesn't pan out either, although it does provide some comic relief. The moments with Misha's "breeches" and Yevgeny's grandmother had me giggling out loud. Finally, his parents discover his artwork under the table and he begins to take art lessons.

Young Yevgeny grapples with what having great artistic talent means: in the Soviet Union, it offers both opportunities and surveillance. Yevgeni's brother Viktor achieves plenty of success: a one-bedroom apartment all to himself, and a car, as well as travel privileges. And this kind of freedom and opportunity is what Yevgeny's parents are after for their children. But vignettes that depict Yevgeny's art lessons and Baryshnikov's defection clearly demonstrate that the freedoms achieved with great talent and success are not necessarily freedoms of expression and truth.

The ending was so sad and abrupt I almost tripped. <spoiler>I struggled with the matter-of-fact way that Yevgeny's father just dies. It's fast and horrifying and yet simultaneously so understated. It's a memoir, so there's no arguing with what happened, but the way it's related is just hollowing. </spoiler> It all ends with a tidy look toward the future, but no additional information about what happens to that genius under the table, how he managed to get from the Soviet Union to the U.S., and what transpired with the rest of his family. This kind of ending inspired me to go Googling Yelchin to see what I could find out. He's worked on animated movies as well as children's books, which I didn't know. And besides his brother Viktor the ice skater, he has a nephew Anton Yelchin who was in the recent Star Trek movies as Chekov, and then died in a freak accident a few years ago. It seems there is plenty of material for further memoirs, if Yelchin is so inclined, and I would love to hear more stories.

I really enjoyed the audio book, especially listening to Yelchin himself, but I'd still like to flip through a physical copy of the book just to check out the illustrations and any additional information.

This was an interesting look into Eugene Yelchin's life growing up in the USSR. I enjoyed the realness with which the story was told. It was a very brief story yet effective. Overall enjoyed and would recommend.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advanced listening copy of The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene (Yevgeny) Yelchin, narrated by the author. This is a fascinating middle-grade memoir of the author's experiences growing up Jewish in the former USSR.

Mr. Yelchin has had a long and successful career illustrating children's picture books and writing numerous middle-grade fiction titles. The print edition of Genius includes many of the author's illustrations, but can’t capture his rich Russian accent.

The title is the author's childhood nickname given by his father. Its origin is a vivid example of the family's austere living circumstances imposed by the Soviet government. In the memoir, readers meet the members of the Yelchin family: his poetry-loving father, ballet-obsessed mother, strident grandmother, and figure-skating older brother. His mother, who revered Mikhail Baryshnikov, had a tremendous impact on his life.

Simultaneously humorous and poignant, this memoir written for middle-grade readers is relevant to people of all ages. I've been thinking about how different his childhood, which began just 10 years prior to mine, was from mine, primarily due to the country in which he was born. This would be an impactful buddy read with the young people in your life.

"What does drawing correctly teach us, children?" "Drawing correctly teaches us to live by the rules."
Yelchin pulls back the Iron Curtain, offering a glimpse of life for Jews living in 1970's Russia. Six-year-old Yevgeny lives with his parents, older brother Victor, and grandmother, eking out a meager life in a communal apartment. His poetry-loving father, mother whose ballet dreams were denied, and competitive figure skating sibling are described in charming detail.
Living conditions are so cramped that the only place for the boy to sleep is under the table. He secretly swipes his father’s only pencil to draw on the table’s underside.
Short chapters offer poignant snapshots into a bizarre world that glorifies the mummified body of Lenin, requires citizens to earn a stamped coupon to purchase a book, and causes family members to remove all images of grandfather from the family’s photo album.

From the opening pages, readers are aware of an ongoing Russian obsession with the United States: a land of bright colors, forbidden chewing gum, blue jeans, and rock & roll. ​The shameful treatment of Jews is a puzzle to Yvegeny. He is confused by his father's robot-like devotion to the Communist party.
Sardonic wit punctuates the narrative. Yevgeny wonders at the meaning of the word “defect.” It sounds to him like “defecate.” Does this mean that people leave the USSR to relieve themselves?
The memoir is more than a recount of life in Russia. The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain is an exploration of art that breaks rules, exposes truth, and yearns for freedom. It is also a story of the love within a family that expands beyond a cramped one room communal space.
Yelchin’s considerable talents as a storyteller, illustrator, and narrator make this slim volume an education and a delight. Yevgeny's “artistic talent” will fascinate readers.

HAPPY PUB DAY!

Poignant and charming and so worth it! That’s what I felt listening to Eugene Yelchin’s childhood bio on audio. The hard copy version, named by the NYT as one of the 25 best children’s books of 2021, also includes his quirky endearing illustrations.

As he wrote on FB: “And so today, when something so private becomes so public, I feel exactly what I felt working on the book: joy, pain, and embarrassment. ‘Oy vey, look the schlimazel,’ I hear my grandmother’s voice in my head. ‘Six starred reviews, he’s embarrassed.”

What’s not to love?

Grateful to Eugene, @dreamscape_media, and @netgalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#EugeneYelchin #TheGeniusUnderTheTable
#growingupbehindtheironcurtain #NetGalley
#notablechildrensbooks #dreamscapemedia

Thank you, NetGalley, for an audio-ARC of The Genius Under the Table by Eugene Yelchin.
Eugene Yelchin narrates the audio version of his memoir, and his voice is perfect for understanding the dialect and emotion behind each word. An interesting account of life in Russia during the Cold War! My only criticism is that I wish it was longer.

I listened to the audio version which was read by the author. I really enjoyed this audiobook. Life in the former USSR fascinates me. The author provided a realistic account of the daily life of a young Jewish boy growing up in Communist Russia. His personal stories and discussion of the culture as experienced by average people was interesting. He talked about social pressures on young people from their families and teachers. He also discussed defection, which he mistakenly called "defecation" as a kid. His prime example was the great ballet dancer, Baryshnikov, who his mother idolized. Not everything in this young man's life was negative. He also shared plenty of good experiences. I hope he writes another book picking up where this one left off. I would love to revisit this boy and his family.
Yelchin's memoir is engaging and funny. I really liked his character. Sleeping under grandma's table sounds wonderfully cozy.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio copy of this book. As someone who grew up Jewish behind the iron curtain, I can certainly relate to the author’s experience. The life conditions described in the story are authentic and accurate representation of what life was like for my parents and grandparents in the late 1950s - early 1960s USSR. The only difference is that my parents and grandparents, like majority of people in the USSR, did not live in a big city, so not all the privileges described in this book (ballet, museums) were available for my family. One set of my grandparents lived in a house with no plumbing, no running water, and no central heat until they emigrated to the US in the mid-1990s. Antisemitism was alive and prevalent, trips to foreign countries were silent dreams, but the black market was prospering.
So, if you are curious about what life behind the iron curtain was like — I highly recommend this book.

Personal, humorous anecdotes about life in Soviet Russia from a child's viewpoint are narrated clearly in this audiobook on the story from the uncle of late Anton Yelchin. The narrator has perfect timing including awkward pauses to emphasize points. Author paints a lively picture of various highlights of his life chapter by chapter. Younger siblings will identify with our main character's imagined shortcomings as compared to his talented older sibling.