Greenberg, Paul 1967-

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GREENBERG, Paul 1967-

PERSONAL: Born 1967. Education: Attended Brown University (Russian studies).

ADDRESSES: Agent—Ellen Ryder Communications, 580 Broadway, Suite 1201, New York, NY 10012.

CAREER: Writer. Television producer specializing in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Internews Network, director of media training, 1992-96, director of Balkan media training, 1996-98; novelist and screenwriter, 1998—.

WRITINGS:

Leaving Katya, G. P. Putnam's Sons (New York, NY), 2002.

Author of episodes of The Invisible Man (television series), Sci Fi Channel.

SIDELIGHTS: Writer Paul Greenberg attended Brown University, majoring in Russian studies. From 1992 to 1996 he was director of media training for the nonprofit Internews Network, where he supervised the professional development of young television journalists in the former Soviet Union.

In 1996 he was promoted to director of Balkan Media projects at Internews. He worked in Sarajevo, Belgrade, and Zagreb and was responsible for the production of cross-cultural television series. These included Fresh, a weekly news program that featured Bosnians of all nationalities; Balkan Bridges, a monthly show that used satellite technology to reunite people who were separated by war; Kosovo: A View from Inside, which documented Albanian life in Kosovo; and The Hague Diaries, a weekly show that provided news about the International War Crimes Tribunal for Yugoslavia.

Greenberg left Internews in 1998 to become a full-time novelist and screenwriter. He has written episodes for The Invisible Man, an action/adventure show on the Sci Fi Channel.

Greenberg's autobiographical novel Leaving Katya depicts a cross-cultural relationship between an American man and a Russian woman. As his story begins, young Daniel, who comes from a family of eccentrics, is fascinated with Russia—a fascination his family and friends think is just a phase. He works on his Russian-language skills, travels to Russia, and works hard to get a job in Russian television. While on this quest, he meets a Russian woman named Katya and falls deeply in love with her after one night they spend together. The relationship is complicated by deep cultural differences and by Katya's personality: she is moody and secretive, and he can never fully understand her.

In addition, the Soviet Union is falling into social and political chaos as the old regime dissolves. Daniel returns to his old life in New York City, where he works temp jobs and nurtures his obsession with Katya. Although his family urges him to forget her and move on, he is unable to do so; he can't get out of what they call his "Russian phase." He sends her a postcard, vaguely inviting her to visit. When Katya takes him up on his offer and visits him in New York, Daniel impulsively marries her, despite the fact that they hardly know each other. Daniel's family is hardly supportive: his brother punches him in the face for being such a fool.

Financial problems quickly beset the already-shaky marriage, as Katya feels that he is not providing for her at the level she expected; she even pretends she is pregnant in order to force a move to a larger apartment. In the middle of the move Daniel discovers she is not pregnant after all, and rushes out into the street to try and stop the movers. Things become even worse when Katya discovers the large community of Russian émigrés in New York and becomes even more alienated from Daniel. Ironically, this is Daniel's fault: in a misguided attempt to find her a job with a dentist so she can receive free treatment for her crumbling teeth, he introduces her to a Russian immigrant who berates Daniel for not having enough money to take care of Katya.

Daniel returns to Russia and visits Katya's parents without her. He learns some unpleasant facts about her, and begins to realize that what he has imagined her to be is not who she really is at all. Confused, he returns to New York, and discovers that Katya has been having an affair. They decide to divorce, Katya returns to Russia, and Daniel realizes that his "Russian phase" may indeed be coming to an end. His idealized version of the country and its people has finally been tempered by a harsh dose of reality.

In the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pauline M. Millard called Leaving Katya "a surprisingly solid first novel," and a Publishers Weekly reviewer called it "truly engaging." In Bookreporter.com, Chuck Leahy commented that Greenberg is "comfortable in the gray areas of longing and regret and self-doubt" in this "exploration of cultural rootlessness" and praises him for avoiding any easy answers. Washington Post reviewer Carolyn See wrote that Daniel and Katya's disastrous relationship will be familiar to many readers, and praised Greenberg's use of humor: "You laugh out loud when you read this book."