Not Such a Terrible Sacrifice

Pavel Selukov was born in 1986 on the outskirts of Perm. At thirty, he began writing. Now he is the author of several books, a laureate of the Kataev Prize, and a finalist of the “Big Book” ( “To Get Tarkovsky”). “Not Such a Terrible Sacrifice” is a new collection of stories. Selukov's hero is a writer, a boxer, a husband, and just a man on the brink of forty, trying to understand: why does life feel sharper with each passing year? A chance encounter with a girl who restores faith in humanity; an old acquaintance, Kesha, in whom empathy does not awaken; the terminally ill Zoya, dreaming of a first and last touch – every meeting turns into either a tragedy or a revelation. This prose does not have embellishments: it speaks the language of the street, love borders on violence, and the past does not let go. But it is in this harsh honesty that an astonishing tenderness towards the world is born. Selukov is convinced: the sacrifice we make to remain human is perhaps not such a terrible one.