Synopses & Reviews
The title story of this enthralling compilation spins the tale of a boy growing into adolescence whose body appears to have been taken over by a colony of ants. His diaryinitially expressed in the barely literate tones of a young childbecomes more accomplished and assured as the protagonist matures and eventually begins to give way to the voice of the ruler of the anthill. Featuring a direct, commendably unpretentious, and convincing style, the tales use recognizably modern Russian settings to explore the contemporary condition of man both in Russia and further afield.
Review
"Anna Starobinets stands apart from other genre writers thanks to her ability to write in a good, unpolluted and idiomatic Russian." —Moscow Times
Review
"The effect produced is that of sheer fear, largely due to the simplistic style of the language and the realistic reportage-style descriptions." —Daily Telegraph
About the Author
Anna Starobinets is a Russian journalist. Hugh Aplin has translated Mikhail Bulgakov's A Dog's Heart and The Fatal Eggs, Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Eternal Husband, and Mikhail Kuzmin's Wings.