Overview

From a rising star of ""inventive and wildly evocative"" Russian literature(Publishers Weekly),a collection of short stories that straddles the line between delight and horror. Twisting the art of the fairytale into something entirely her own, Alla Gorbunova's(Th)ings and (Th)oughtsis a spellbinding collection of thematically-linked short prose. A teacher contemplates leaving her husband after learning that he doesn't have a soul; a functionary realizes that the only way to survive in contemporary Russia is to go insane; cars fall inexplicably from the sky; skeletons turn up in abandoned lots; a hapless everyman named Ivan Petrovich travels through a madcap Boschian afterlife, coming face-to-face with his own shortcomings, but failing, time after time, to finally get it right. Elsewhere, characters contend with puns, predators, and polyamory, often finding that the bleakness of their existence is an ordeal that only love can sweeten-though it also can't fix anything. A witty satirist with a post-apocalyptic vision and a theologian's sense of seriousness and depth, Gorbunova is heir to the likes of Nikolai Gogol, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Daniil Kharms. In these fantastic, parable-like tales, she restores fiction's capacity to amuse, terrify, and enchant, turning a magical lens on bitter realities.

Full Product Details

9781646054039

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Gorbunova’s protean fairy tales examine everything from the religious and political to the personal and the surreal. I loved this eclectic collection. I never knew where the next tale might go, only that it would unsettle and delight."" —Lincoln Michel, author of Metallic Realms

 ""These surreal fables feel at once timeless and urgently contemporary."" —Kirkus Reviews ""The stories in this razor-sharp collection from Gorbunova evoke the absurdity of everyday life in post-Soviet Russia. A refreshingly sane depiction of an insane world."" —Publishers Weekly ""Gorbunova’s protean fairy tales examine everything from the religious and political to the personal and the surreal. I loved this eclectic collection. I never knew where the next tale might go, only that it would unsettle and delight."" —Lincoln Michel, author of Metallic Realms

""The stories in this razor-sharp collection from Gorbunova evoke the absurdity of everyday life in post-Soviet Russia. A refreshingly sane depiction of an insane world."" —Publishers Weekly ""Gorbunova’s protean fairy tales examine everything from the religious and political to the personal and the surreal. I loved this eclectic collection. I never knew where the next tale might go, only that it would unsettle and delight."" —Lincoln Michel, author of Metallic Realms

“These surreal fables feel at once timeless and urgently contemporary.” —Kirkus Reviews “The stories in this razor-sharp collection from Gorbunova evoke the absurdity of everyday life in post-Soviet Russia. A refreshingly sane depiction of an insane world.” —Publishers Weekly “Gorbunova’s protean fairy tales examine everything from the religious and political to the personal and the surreal. I loved this eclectic collection. I never knew where the next tale might go, only that it would unsettle and delight.” —Lincoln Michel, author of Metallic Realms “Steeped in a morbid yet jocular sensibility, Alla Gorbunova’s (Th)ings and (Th)oughts blends the bleak realities of everyday existence with amusing absurdities.” —Open Letters Review “There is a mischievous thread of linguistic playfulness woven through this collection, yet this lightheartedness is by no means lightweight. A deep understanding of human psychology underpins the pieces so that characters are often at their most relatable when they are behaving most perversely . . . Through it all runs a sense of affectionate cynicism."" —A Year of Reading the World

Author Information

Alla Gorbunova has published seven books of poetry and six books of prose. Her novel It's the End of the World, My Love, was awarded the NOS Prize, and the poetry collection Inside Starfall received the Andrey Bely Prize. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages. Elina Alter is a writer and the translator of Alla Gorbunova's It's the End of the World, My Love. Her other translations include Oksana Vasyakina's Wound and Steppe.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available