{"product_id":"rock-paper-grenade-9781644214275","title":"Rock, Paper, Grenade","description":"\u003cb\u003eUkrainian writer and military serviceman Artem Chekh's book was the winner of the 2021 BBC News Ukraine Book of the Year Award and is a gritty and bald bildungsroman, a lilting picaresque of a life lived in the shadow of someone else's war.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen Tymofiy is five years old, his small family in Cherkasy, Ukraine grows by one. Not with the birth of a baby sister or brother, but with the appearance of Felix--mentor and tormentor, enemy and friend--Tymofiy's grandmother's sometime-boyfriend. \"Who are you?\" Felix screams in the depths of a confused and drunken rage at all who cross his path, his memories of the Soviet-Afghan war clouding his eyes and senses. \"Who are you?\" Tymofiy asks himself as he drifts through the streets of his hometown, searching for love and protection, for a better, happier way of life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA gritty, realist depiction of Ukraine and the post Soviet world, this book offers an affecting yet honest look into the life of someone suffering from PTSD. It is a story of growing up without much hope for a better future, and yet intense moments of connection and kindness persist. Just when things begin to seem insurmountably dark, a friendship begins, a kind word is said, or a hand reaches out and opens the curtains, letting in a little light.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Seven Stories Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/22\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781644214275\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.81lbs","brand":"Artem Chekh","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45131024203957,"sku":"9781644214275","price":18.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_18377607-a4ae-4511-81d5-df97fa4e30b6.jpg?v=1740460352","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/rock-paper-grenade-9781644214275","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}