Rasskazy New Fiction From A New Russia

Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia showcases the work of Russian writers born in the twentieth century whose entire adult lives have been spent in post-Soviet circumstances. These stories show the range of aesthetics and subject matter the young generation of Russian writers is working with and fall broadly into the category of what is sometimes referred to as the New Russian Realism.

Among those presented in this anthology are winners and finalists for Russia's most prestigious literary awards, such as the Debut, the Eureka, the Russian Booker, and the National Bestseller. Some of the authors included have already published several books, while others are new discoveries. Many of the stories were published in distinguished journals and magazines, and most appear here in English for the first time. Contributors include Ashot Arhakyan, Marianna Geide, Vadim Kalinin, and Anna Starobinets.

“Tin House has done the world a service in its release of Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia...Think of these stories (or rasskazy) as the final frontier.”—Willamette Week

"The current state of Russian identity—artistic, political, social and beyond—is vigorously examined in this anthology, offering readers a multifaceted portrait of the complex nation, from short, poetic pieces like Oleg Zobern's 'Bregovich's Sixth Journey,' to nearly journalistic narratives like Arkady Babchenko's powerful and harrowing remembrance of the Chechen war ('The Diesel Stop'). The dreams and fears of young and old are included—Roman Senchin's 'History' follows a retired and politically indifferent professor who gets caught up in a mass arrest of protesters and subsequently must wake up to the oppressive realities of his country, and Anna Starobinet's 'Rules' is a whimsical and poignant sketch of a frighteningly perceptive boy. The editors point out that the stories 'fall broadly into the category of what can be referred to as New Russian Realism.' This realism, though, leaves plenty of room for surreal and dryly humorous perspectives (such as Kirill Ryabov's 'Spit' and Vadim Kalinin's 'The Unbelievable and Tragic Story of Misha Shtrikov and His Cruel Wife'). This is a truly diverse series of revelations."—Publishers Weekly

"...raw, intense and sure to leave an impression."—Douglas Smith, The Seattle Times

“Rasskazy presents not only the future of Russian writing but also the future of literature, that hopelessly human project.”

—Aleksandar Hemon, author of Love and Obstacles

“Rasskazy is a marvelous collection that gives an American reader a taste of the diversity of literary voices as well as the richness of post-Soviet Russian life.”

—Lara Vapnyar, author of Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love

"A collection of first-rate stories like Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia provides not only a much-needed renovation of our understanding of Russia's present, but also a glimpse into the world's future: a future featuring an exponential increase in sorrow and terror and corruption, endless premonitions of menace, and our main source of hope residing in the resilient capacities of human tenderness." —Jim Shepard, author of Like You'd Understand Anyway

"The stories in Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia...aptly illustrate this unbroken continuum of Russian literature dating back as far as Pushkin, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy, etc. etc...their work demonstrates the full breadth of aesthetics and topical concerns of this young generation."—Kevin Kinsella, TheRumpus.net

..."Rasskazy stands to remind us that Russia is a country still putting out vital literature—despite the memory of censorship that creeps into its writing."—Jason Diamonds, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

"It is a triumph that Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia is one of those very few new translations surfacing in bookstores, because the voices in this collection are fresh and vital."—The Collagist

"These young authors are clearly aware of the literary lineage to which they are eternally rooted. Yet ultimately they know their prose must grow beyond such lineages in order to articulate a distinct and alternate future: new fiction for a new Russia."—The McGill Daily

"...these stories are about alienation and displacement...at least some Russians are still reading—not only themselves but their classics—as they write themselves out of cultural amnesia." —Maxim D. Shrayer, The Globe and Mail

'Rasskazy...is rich with detail and hard-edged beauty. It is full of brutality and the poignancy of living through hard times. This collection should enable this crop of modern authors to step out of the literary shadows. It's time for their turn in the sun." —Katie Schneider, The Oregonian

"Many old comrades reside here: loneliness, treachery, cruelty, melancholy, memories of disaster and departure, conveyed in heartrending tones by as talented a cohort of authors as to be found anywhere. This splendid collection of twenty-two Russians, none of whom had reached maturity when the Soviet Union collapsed, their work varied, so full of memorable situations, beckons the adventurous reader."—Dalkey Archive Press's Review of Contemporary Fiction

"These tales of love and loss and change and redemption are peculiarly affecting. They achieve what any good short story writer should aspire to: plumbing the depths of human emotions in only a few short pages." —Popmatters.com

"Many old comrades reside here: loneliness, treachery, cruelty, melancholy, memories of disaster and departure, conveyed in heartrending tones by as talented a cohort of authors as to be found anywhere."—Dalkey Archive Press's Review of Contemporary Fiction

"Rasskazy, which means stories in Russian, is rich with detail and hard-edged beauty. It is full of brutality and the poignancy that comes of living through hard times. This collection should enable this crop of modern authors to step out of the literary shadows. It's time for their turn in the sun." Katie Schneider, The Oregonian (read the entire )

Few countries have undergone more radical transformations than Russia has since the fall of the Soviet Union. The stories in Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia present twenty-three depictions of the new Russia from its most talented young writers. Selected from the pages of the top Russian literary magazines and written by winners of the most prestigious literary awards, most of these stories appear here in English for the first time.

Featuring some of Russia's most prestigious post-Soviet writers, Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia portrays the range of aesthetics and subject matter faced by a generation that never knew Communism.

"What's new is the rhythm and snap of the hip, modern, contemporary voices that we would expect to hear rattling into a cell phone in the booth next to ours, and the rendering of that voice into an English that's as idiomatic and confident as we imagine these speakers to be. . . . How fortunate we are . . . that we now have Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia.

— from the introduction by Francine Prose

Jeff Parker is the author of the novel Ovenman and the collection The Back of the Line and the coeditor of Amerika: Russian Writers View the United States. He served as the program director of Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia, and is currently the acting director of the Master's Program in the Field of Creative Writing at the University of Toronto.