Overview

From an acclaimed Ukrainian author, snapshots of a city haunted by war The women, men, and children in Serhiy Zhadan's new collection of stories testify to the dignity of daily life in the war-battered Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Through a series of powerful vignettes we witness the ordinary experiences of people in extraordinary times—weddings, love affairs, tense visits home from the battlefield, and desperate deliveries of humanitarian aid. Highlighting the upheaval since the 2022 Russian invasion, characters from Zhadan's Mesopotamia and The Orphanage reappear, this time with entirely different concerns, such as evacuating an old woman after the bombardment of a residential area, finding a job for someone who returned from the front with significant disabilities, and attending the funeral of a colleague who had led a combat unit on the front lines. These stories, composed shortly before the author joined the Ukrainian National Guard, give voice to the vulnerability of those whose lives have been transformed by war, who have come to accept that death lurks around every corner, in every building, and on every square.

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9780300284348

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Reviews

“Serhiy Zhadan is one of the most important writers of our time. These stories, which arise from his extraordinary engagement during Russia’s war of atrocity against Ukraine, bring home both the reality of war and the necessity of literature.”—Timothy Snyder “Certain writers become definitive: the standard against which others are measured. Zhadan is now that standard, not just for Ukraine but for world literature.”—Askold Melnyczuk “To say that Serhiy Zhadan is a poet, a novelist, a rock star, a protester, a symbol of his country’s desire for freedom and change, is to say the truth—but what is truth? Zhadan is a literary master of enormous force. At times he combines the energy of Jack Kerouac and atmospheric spell of Isaac Babel, at other times he is a balladeer of his country’s struggle. Serhiy Zhadan is one of those rare things—almost impossible to find now in the West—a national bard, a chronicler.”—Ilya Kaminsky

""Serhiy Zhadan is one of the most important writers of our time. These stories, which arise from his extraordinary engagement during Russia’s war of atrocity against Ukraine, bring home both the reality of war and the necessity of literature.""—Timothy Snyder, author of On Freedom

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“Serhiy Zhadan is one of the most important writers of our time. These stories, which arise from his extraordinary engagement during Russia’s war of atrocity against Ukraine, bring home both the reality of war and the necessity of literature.”—Timothy Snyder “Certain writers become definitive: the standard against which others are measured. Zhadan is now that standard, not just for Ukraine but for world literature.”—Askold Melnyczuk “To say that Serhiy Zhadan is a poet, a novelist, a rock star, a protester, a symbol of his country’s desire for freedom and change, is to say the truth—but what is truth? Zhadan is a literary master of enormous force. At times he combines the energy of Jack Kerouac and atmospheric spell of Isaac Babel, at other times he is a balladeer of his country’s struggle. Serhiy Zhadan is one of those rare things—almost impossible to find now in the West—a national bard, a chronicler.”—Ilya Kaminsky

Author Information

Serhiy Zhadan is an award-winning contemporary Ukrainian author of poetry and prose. His books include The Orphanage, Sky Above Kharkiv, and How Fire Descends. Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler is a translator, poet, and educator from New Hampshire. He lives and teaches in New York City.

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