Island of Crimea

The works of Vasily Aksyonov, one of the iconic Russian writers, are well known not only in Russia but also abroad. For many decades, he remained the voice of his generation, responding with brilliant prose to the most complex and relevant topics. The famous novel «Island of Crimea» was written in 1977–1979, even before the author left the USSR, but was first published in the USA in 1981. Russian readers could only get acquainted with it in 1990, and even then they were struck by both the bold plot twist (what if Crimea were a full-fledged island, and what if it had gone to the Whites during the Civil War?) and Aksyonov's extraordinary gift of foresight. This is one of those truly classic works that, over time, not only do not become obsolete, but acquire new and new meanings. The current edition also includes the experimental travel novella «In Search of a Genre» (1972) and the novella «Our Golden Iron» (1973). Rich in precise details, ironic, combining the mundane and the elevated, confessional and playful, Aksyonov's prose gives readers an enduring sense of freedom and fullness of existence.