Synopses & Reviews
A survivor of the labor camps, Vytautas Vargalys is a physically and mentally damaged man obsessed with finding out what's really going on in Soviet-ruled Vilnius. He's stuck working an absurd job--creating a digital catalog for a library that no one is allowed to access--but finds meaning by tracking all of the so-called clues about them that he uncovers wherever he looks: in books, in the death of his best friend, and in the beautiful women sent to work at the library. One of these beautiful women is Lolita, an aptly named seductress with a mysterious past and a growing love for Vargalys. Their tragic relationship forms the crux of this novel, which is told through four characters, and chronicles the surreal absurdities and horrors of life under Soviet rule. The bulk of the novel is a lyrical, engaging depiction of Vilnius seen through the eyes of Vargalys as his grasp on reality begins to slip. By turns literary, shocking, and philosophical, this section of the novel earned Gavelis his reputation and led to Vilnius Poker being referred to as a turning point in Lithuanian literature.
Synopsis
Man accused of gruesome crime tells his side of the story
Synopsis
The "turning point in Lithuanian literature," Vilnius Poker is the best Lithuanian Zombie novel ever. (According to Green Apple Books.)
Synopsis
Detailing a man's mental breakdown—and his obsession with a seductress named Lolita, the omnipresent "them," and the need to uncover what's "really going on"—Vilnius Poker is an epic, paranoid novel about the surreal absurdities and horrors of life under Soviet rule. In the words of Kirkus Reviews, "think of it as The Matrix behind the Iron Curtain—unsettling and profoundly interesting."
About the Author
Ricardas Gavelis was a prose writer, playwright, and publicist. His novels include
Seven Ways to Commit Suicide,
The Last Generation of Men on Earth, and
The Life of Sun-Tzu in the Sacred Twon of Vilnius.Elizabeth Novickas graduated from the University of Illinois-Chicago with a M.A. in Lithuanian Language and Literature. She has worked previously as a bookbinder, newspaper designer, cartographer, and computer system administrator.