The Defector. The Condemned. The Fugitive

Alexander Kabakov 1943–2020 — writer, journalist, playwright; master of psychological prose and intellectual thriller; author of the novel «Everything is Fixable» which won the «Big Book» award, the memoir «Aksenov» co-authored with E. Popov, ironic «Moscow Tales» and many other works. The legendary dystopia «The Defector» immediately after its release in 1988 brought the author worldwide fame and became a grim prophecy of the events of 1991. The main character of the novel, extrapolator Yuri Ilyich, can travel through time and tries to prevent a civil war in the post-Soviet space… The total circulation of «The Defector» exceeded a million, enthusiastic reviews were published in “Times”, “Guardian”, “Nouvel Observateur”, and in Russia, a film of the same name was made. The phantasmagoria «The Condemned» is a logical continuation of «The Defector», only the action moves to the middle of the 21st century. Yuri Ilyich goes to Stockholm to receive an international award, and he is guarded by those who once tried to recruit him. The novel «The Fugitive» is an elegant stylization of an old diary. Banker L-ov senses the catastrophe at the beginning of the 20th century and is preparing to become a defector himself.