Gaito Gazdanov – författare

'A tantalising mystery... a mesmerising work of literature' Antony Beevor

'Truly troubling, a weird meditation on death, war and sex' Paris Review

A superb early postmodern classic by one of Nabokov's fellow émigré writers, rediscovered after more than half a century

A man comes across a short story which recounts in minute detail his killing of a soldier, long ago - from the victim's point of view. It's a story that should not exist, and whose author can only be a dead man.

So begins the strange quest for its elusive writer: 'Alexander Wolf'.

A singular classic, The Spectre of Alexander Wolf is a psychological thriller and existential inquiry into guilt and redemption, coincidence and fate, love and death.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe

Translated by Bryan Karetnyk

Gaito Gazdanov (1903-1971) joined the White Army aged just sixteen and fought in the Russian Civil War. Exiled in Paris from the 1920s onwards, he eventually became a nocturnal taxi-driver and quickly gained prominence on the literary scene as a novelist, essayist, critic and short-story writer, and was greatly acclaimed by Maxim Gorky, among others.

'The Gazdanov revival ... is nothing short of a literary event' TLS

'Gazdanov is a modernist master' Mary O'Donoghue Irish Times

'The Flight is a suave, cosmopolitan human comedy with a twist ... All of Gazdanov's work demonstrates his great gift for characterization. He simply knew human nature, at its best and worst.' Eileen Battersby L.A. Review of Books

A young man's passion for his father's mistress tips into tragedy. The debut novel of the author of modernist classic The Spectre of Alexander Wolf.

While summering on the French Riviera, the young Seryozha secretly becomes the lover of the much older Liza - who is also his father's mistress. As autumn approaches, they reluctantly part: Liza to return to Paris, Seryozha to take up his studies at university in London. When he finds out about their affair, Seryozha's father attempts to convince Liza to leave his son, for the sake of the boy's own happiness. She finally gives in - but a sudden, fatal catastrophe changes everything.

Gazdanov's third novel is proof of his wide-ranging talents: originally written before his celebrated noir experiments The Spectre of Alexander Wolf and The Buddha's Return, The Flight blends psychological drama, illicit romance and moments of both comedy and lyricism. It is a modernist take on the traditional Russian nineteenth-century realist novel epitomised by Tolstoy, and a devastating, sun-soaked romance.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.

Translated by Bryan Karetnyk

Gaito Gazdanov (1903-1971) joined the White Army aged just sixteen and fought in the Russian Civil War. Exiled in Paris from the 1920s onwards, he earned a living as a nocturnal taxi-driver and quickly gained prominence on the literary scene as a novelist, essayist, critic and short-story writer, and was greatly admired by Maxim Gorky, among others. Pushkin Press also publishes the celebrated The Spectre of Alexander Wolf and The Buddha's Return.

Bryan Karetnyk is a British writer and translator. His translations for Pushkin Press include works by Ichiyo Higuchi, Irina Odoevtseva, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki and Ryunosuke Akutagawa. He is also the editor of the Penguin Classics anthology Russian Émigré Short Stories from Bunin to Yanovsky.