---
product_id: 52174494
title: "The Little Communist Who Never Smiled"
price: "€ 33.23"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.com.cy/products/52174494-the-little-communist-who-never-smiled
store_origin: CY
region: Cyprus
---

# The Little Communist Who Never Smiled

**Price:** € 33.23
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** The Little Communist Who Never Smiled
- **How much does it cost?** € 33.23 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.cy](https://www.desertcart.com.cy/products/52174494-the-little-communist-who-never-smiled)

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## Description

Buy The Little Communist Who Never Smiled by Lafon, Lola, Caistor, Nick from desertcart's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction.

Review: A superb novel about gymnastics and the Cold War - This is a terrific and superbly plotted novel about the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci. Comaneci was one of the finest gymnasts the world has seen: she was the first to gain a perfect score (her parallel bars routine is still breathtaking), and was at the forefront of a generation of talented Romanian (and later, through the defection of her coach, American) gymnasts that loosened the stranglehold Soviet gymnasts had at the time. Lafon's novel is fascinating about the grueling regime that gymnasts went through at such young ages, and about the struggles Comaneci faced when her body grew (as of course it would) and the extraordinarily unfair criticisms she faced. It's also a superb portrait of the Cold War world, and how it intersected at global sporting events. The telling is made even more compelling by a sort of subplot which involves the narrator speaking to a fictionalised version of Comaneci herself about how she is writing her life. It's wonderfully imaginative, and is a terrific read.
Review: Nasty - Personally I find this a rather nasty little book. It's written as the relationship between a journalist with Romanian roots and the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci but careful reading of the small print tells you the apparent relationship is invented. As the author has nothing good to say about Comaneci, or her athletic training in Romania, or anything apart from herself, and as it's written in a very realistic style, I think there is a significant risk of what in 2017-8 would be called fake news. But what is, or is not, is impenetrable. Best avoided.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | 3,214,111 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 4,256 in Sports Fiction (Books) 5,933 in Political Fiction (Books) 6,456 in Biographical & Autofiction |
| Customer reviews | 3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars (43) |
| Dimensions  | 14.73 x 1.78 x 21.08 cm |
| ISBN-10  | 1609806913 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-1609806910 |
| Item weight  | 336 g |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 320 pages |
| Publication date  | 9 Aug. 2016 |
| Publisher  | Seven Stories Press |

## Images

![The Little Communist Who Never Smiled - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71zLBAbsRCL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A superb novel about gymnastics and the Cold War
*by D***R on 7 December 2016*

This is a terrific and superbly plotted novel about the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci. Comaneci was one of the finest gymnasts the world has seen: she was the first to gain a perfect score (her parallel bars routine is still breathtaking), and was at the forefront of a generation of talented Romanian (and later, through the defection of her coach, American) gymnasts that loosened the stranglehold Soviet gymnasts had at the time. Lafon's novel is fascinating about the grueling regime that gymnasts went through at such young ages, and about the struggles Comaneci faced when her body grew (as of course it would) and the extraordinarily unfair criticisms she faced. It's also a superb portrait of the Cold War world, and how it intersected at global sporting events. The telling is made even more compelling by a sort of subplot which involves the narrator speaking to a fictionalised version of Comaneci herself about how she is writing her life. It's wonderfully imaginative, and is a terrific read.

### ⭐ Nasty
*by R***S on 28 January 2018*

Personally I find this a rather nasty little book. It's written as the relationship between a journalist with Romanian roots and the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci but careful reading of the small print tells you the apparent relationship is invented. As the author has nothing good to say about Comaneci, or her athletic training in Romania, or anything apart from herself, and as it's written in a very realistic style, I think there is a significant risk of what in 2017-8 would be called fake news. But what is, or is not, is impenetrable. Best avoided.

### ⭐ Stilted
*by B***Y on 19 May 2018*

Maybe because it's a translation but I found the writing jarring and stilted. The content starts out interesting enough and then quite frankly I just found it boring. Don't bother.

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*Product available on Desertcart Cyprus*
*Store origin: CY*
*Last updated: 2026-03-31*