{"product_id":"ice-9780857426505","title":"Ice","description":"The year is 1973. An Egyptian historian, Dr. Shukri, pursues a year of non-degree graduate studies in Moscow, the presumed heart of the socialist utopia. Through his eyes, the reader receives a guided tour of the sordid stagnation of Brezhnev-era Soviet life: intra-Soviet ethnic tensions; Russian retirees unable to afford a tin of meat; a trio of drunks splitting a bottle of vodka on the sidewalk; a Kirgiz roommate who brings his Russian girlfriend to live in his four-person dormitory room; black-marketeering Arab embassy officials; liberated but insecure Russian women; and Arab students' debates about the geographically distant October 1973 War. Shukri records all this in the same numbly factual style familiar to fans of Sonallah Ibrahim's \u003ci\u003eThat Smell\u003c\/i\u003e, punctuating it with the only redeeming sources of beauty available: classical music LPs, newly acquired Russian vocabulary, achingly beautiful women, and strong Georgian tea. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Based on Ibrahim's own experience studying at the All-Russian Institute of Cinematography in Moscow from 1971 to 1973, \u003ci\u003eIce \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a powerful exploration of Arab confusion, Soviet dysfunction, and the fragility of leftist revolutionary ideals. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Seagull Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/15\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780857426505\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.23lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.10w x 0.90d","brand":"Sonallah Ibrahim","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52418727182517,"sku":"9780857426505","price":18.28,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_c040404f-00d0-4826-93e9-6de432562ad0.jpg?v=1775570317","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/ice-9780857426505","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}