Writing
Kuznetsova's debut novel Oksana, Behave! was published in 2019 by Random House. [1] A bildungsroman about a young Ukrainian immigrant woman divided into "episodes" for chapters, the book was reviewed positively by Emma Straub in the Wall Street Journal, [6] Anya Ulinich in the New York Times, [7] O, The Oprah Magazine , [8] Kirkus Reviews , [9] and Publishers Weekly . [10] Kuznetsova wrote in an essay for Catapult that many readers assumed that the book was autobiographical. [11] The book's launch also led to author interviews with a variety of publications including Electric Literature , [12] Bookforum , [13] The Gazette, [14] and the Chicago Review of Books . [15] Kuznetsova stated that the Soviet dissident Sergei Dovlatov was an influence on the work. [13]
Following the success of her first novel, Kuznetsova published her second, Something Unbelievable, less than two years later, in April 2021. [16] The book centers a grandmother in Ukraine and a granddaughter in the U.S. discussing their Jewish family's history through and after the Holocaust. [2] Rachel Khong wrote that the book argues that "the everyday matters—how unspectacular moments can transcend their confines, how miraculous the ordinary can be" in the New York Times. [17] In an interview with Sanjena Santhian for The Millions , she said the novel began as a short story that she wrote for a class with Ethan Canin at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. [18] This story's grandmother character was based on her grandmother in life, which she wrote about in an essay for Guernica. [19] In an interview for Bookforum , she said that the second novel was different because it required more historical research than the first. [20] It also received positive reviews from the Moscow Times, [21] Bustle, [22] Ploughshares , [23] and the A.V. Club. [24] However, it received a slew of negative reviews, including from Publishers Weekly , which wrote that the book "tediously unfolds" and "there’s not enough to hold readers' interest." [25]
Kuznetsova has also published books reviews and other nonfiction, including essays in Slate about her experience having a miscarriage [26] and postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter. [27]
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