Description
Book Synopsis"Ukraine's greatest living novelist" New European
"A Ukrainian Murakami" Guardian
A hugely entertaining romp through the beautiful city of Lviv, by the author of Death and the Penguin and Grey Bees, now reporting widely on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, his home country.
Strange things are happening in the cosmopolitan town of Lviv, western Ukraine. Seagulls are circling and the air smells salty, though Lviv is a long way from the sea . . .
A group of ageing hippies meets at the cemetery in the middle of the night, gathered around a mysterious grave. Among them the ex-KGB officer who means to apologise to all those he spied on; the woman who is allergic to banknotes, and yet works at the money exchange; and Taras, who makes a living driving at top speed over cobblestones in his ancient Opel Vectra, curing paying passengers of their kidney stones.
Kurkov's novels are often populated by lonely people going through difficult times, and by his own brand of black humour combined with magic realism (occasionally vodka-fuelled). All those ingredients are found in Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv.
Translated from the Russian by Reuben Woolley
Trade ReviewPlayful and ebullient, shot through with magical twists and supernatural turns . . . A reminder of Kurkov's prodigious storytelling gifts and a throwback to an earlier, happier age * Observer *
This beguiling literary postcard from a recent, now supplanted past brims with the bittersweet charm and rueful satire of the books, such as
Death and the Penguin, that established Kurkov's international reputation * Financial Times *
Both a pleasure and a testament to life in Ukraine, before -- David Sexton * Sunday Times *
Entertaining and poignant . . . A multi-layered, Chagal-like picture of modern-day Ukraine. * Glasgow Herald *
A craftily constructed novel that undermines and transforms itself in a consistently enjoyable manner without the haze of purple prose. * Irish Times *
Charming . . . A love letter to Lviv, Ukraine's linguistic and cultural capital * Guardian *
The characters are lovingly drawn and exude the sort of warmth with which the author imbues all of his creations. You enjoy the time spent in their company * The Times *
Kurkov draws us with deceptive ease into a dense complex world full of wonderful characters -- Michael Palin
A latter-day Bulgakov . . . A Ukrainian Murakami * Guardian *
A post-Soviet Kafka * Daily Telegraph *
A kind of Ukrainian Kurt Vonnegut * Spectator *
Ukraine's greatest living novelist
New European -- New European
