Description

Book Synopsis
While living in exile in Berlin, the formidable literary critic Viktor Shklovsky fell in love with Elsa Triolet. He fell into the habit of sending Elsa several letters a day, a situation she accepted under one condition: he was forbidden to write about love. Zoo, or Letters Not about Love is an epistolary novel born of this constraint, and although the brilliant and playful letters contained here cover everything from observations about contemporary German and Russian life to theories of art and literature, nonetheless every one of them is indirectly dedicated to the one topic they are all required to avoid: their author's own unrequited love.

Trade Review
“Shklovsky revitalizes the traditional epistolary novel.”—Choice

Zoo, or Letters Not about Love

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    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Fri 12 Jun 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Viktor Shklovsky, Richard Sheldon, Richard Sheldon

    1 in stock


      View other formats and editions of Zoo, or Letters Not about Love by Viktor Shklovsky

      Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
      Publication Date: 21/03/2024
      ISBN13: 9781628974966, 978-1628974966
      ISBN10: 1628974966

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      While living in exile in Berlin, the formidable literary critic Viktor Shklovsky fell in love with Elsa Triolet. He fell into the habit of sending Elsa several letters a day, a situation she accepted under one condition: he was forbidden to write about love. Zoo, or Letters Not about Love is an epistolary novel born of this constraint, and although the brilliant and playful letters contained here cover everything from observations about contemporary German and Russian life to theories of art and literature, nonetheless every one of them is indirectly dedicated to the one topic they are all required to avoid: their author's own unrequited love.

      Trade Review
      “Shklovsky revitalizes the traditional epistolary novel.”—Choice

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