First published 2013
The narrator journeys through Soviet Russia during the 1930s as Stalin's government tightens its grip on the nation. He moves from city to city, observing the machinery of the emerging totalitarian state and the people caught within it. The traveler encounters bureaucrats, citizens, and officials while documenting the contradictions between Soviet ideals and harsh realities. His observations shift between contempt for the system and moments of genuine connection with individuals he meets. The narrator records his experiences in a fragmented, experimental style that mirrors the disorienting nature of his surroundings. Through abbreviated phrases, invented words, and typographical experiments, he captures both the absurdity and tragedy of life under the new regime. What emerges is a portrait of a society in transition, told through the eyes of an American writer struggling to make sense of a world that defies conventional description.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Soviet Russia, Moscow
Period: 1930s
496 pages · Kindle Edition · Liveright