Roman waited for me to finish and then looked me straight in the eye. ‘Alina. This is a wrong attitude,’ he said. ‘You must go. And win.’

Go and Win. This task seems simple enough, but Alina Simone knows the road to a successful music career is far from easy. In You Must Go and Win, Alina’s autobiographical collection of short stories, she is put in her rightful place by a good friend: it’s time to stop whining and start working! However, there are quite a few hurdles for Alina to take before she can find success in both the music industry and her personal life. A flea-infested tiny sublet, an encounter with two half-naked, drunken women in a Tomsk hotel room and her record label going bankrupt are only the least of her problems.

Thankfully, Alina has a decent amount of self-mockery that helps her to put all her troubles into perspective. In You Must Go and Win, she has greatly succeeded in writing a humorous account of her perils. The ten stories in the book are all taken from her own life and take place in the United States, Russia and her home country, Ukraine. The stories provide an insight into her life, but shed a light on her efforts to launch her career in music as well. Some of the chapters are accompanied by illustrations or photographs that enforce what is being told.

Presently, there are no plans to translate You Must Go and Win in Dutch. Alina’s novel Note to Self, however, will appear in Dutch translation at Ambo|Anthos publishing house this October.

 

Alina Simone, You Must go And Win

New York: Faber and Faber, 2011