“Intellectual Bestseller” may sound like a contradiction in terms for the U.S. book market, but Russia’s literary tradition of complex allegory and existential musing is still going strong. Cheap romance novels and Lord of the Rings knockoffs haven’t faltered (whatever happened to censorship?) – but Russian book prizes are what make or break many of the country’s authors. As a result, readers are exposed to as much highbrow literature as they are to “guilty pleasure” books. “There’s no unified bestseller list,” says agent Julia Goumen of the Goumen & Smirnova agency.
“However, there are several influential sources and book stores (chains) that provide their lists. And titles that enter short lists and become finalists and winners of book prizes often end up selling the most copies.”
This month, Ilya Boiashov was the first writer from the city of St. Petersburg to win Russia’s National Bestseller prize for his most recent book Way of Murrie (Limbus Press). In the novel, a cat named Murrie is abandoned by his human family following the outbreak of war in Yugoslavia. Guided by spirits and voices, he embarks on a journey through Europe to locate his owners, and his travels tie together the novel’s many subplots. Along the way, Murrie meets some eccentric characters who are all victims of their obsessions: a paranoid Croatian astronomer, an Arab businessman who wants to fly nonstop around the world, a crippled mountain-climber, and a whale which is on its 50th circle around the world to fight a giant octopus, amongst others. The cat observes the behavior of his new acquaintances (of which there are a dozen), but to the reader’s surprise, treats them very badly, abandoning them at critical moments and breaking promises. Murrie never does find his family, but the themes of moving on with one’s life and aspirations remain constant. The author has had an equally multi-faceted life, playing in a Soviet-rock band Jungle, giving guided tours of the Navy museum, writing about submarines and civil wars in Russia, but this is his first novel. Contact Aleksander Troitsky (a.troitsky@limbuspress.ru) for foreign rights.
A slightly more risqué release from Limbus entitled I Love You, Neither Do I is also causing quite a stir. In the vein of William S. Burroughs, Siberia-based architect Sonya Adler offers tales of one-sided lesbian love, lust and obsession in her brutally honest and graphic debut novel. The protagonist, Irina, is on a quest to find the ideal woman – but in her relentless affairs, ends up feeling alone and alienated from her lovers. Adler makes apt comments about the nature of human relations through her explicit sex scenes and unflinching attitude towards the darker side of sex; however, this is not a novel for the squeamish reader.
Dmitry Bykov’s latest, How Putin Became President of the U.S.A: New Russian Stories (Amphora) is also set to win over fans of political satire. According to literary agent Goumen, Bykov’s books are very long – “which is usually a disadvantage for the Russian market (unlike Germany) – but being very media active, he is always on the bestseller lists.” His biography of Boris Pasternak won the Big Book Award and the National Bestseller prize last year. Subsequently, he enjoyed considerable media attention, which spurred the sales of many books. Bykov is also a journalist, poet and TV personality whom the Moscow Times praised for being “prolific”. For rights information about his works, including Pravda, a book about Lenin written in satirical prose described as the “literary sensation of the century” – contact Lena Koposova at Amphora Publishers (lena.koposova@amphora.ru.)
Some of Bykov’s work has already been translated by the Moscow-based book series publisher GLAS, which specializes in exposing the best of new Russian literary fiction to English speaking readers. The Times Literary Supplement said GLAS “gives us a sense of Russian literature in motion. If it cannot perhaps mercifully convey fully what it is like to live in Russia at present, GLAS at least gives us a taste of what it is to be a reader there.” Since translations make up only 2% of the U.S book market, GLAS plays an important role in giving people an opportunity to enjoy Russian literature that isn’t necessarily a classic text. GLAS is distributed in the U.S through Northwestern University Press and represents over 100 writers and poets. Some of their translations have been picked up by bigger publishers: The Diary of a Soviet Schoolgirl by Nina Lugovskaya, published in the US by Houghton Mifflin and in the UK by Transworld as well as in 20 other countries; Arkady Babchenko‘s One Soldier’s War in Chechnya, coming out this year from Grove Atlantic as well as in 10 other countries; Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky‘s novellas, now translated for the NYRB‘s Classics as well as in many other countries, and many more. Krzhizhanovsky’s Seven Stories also received the International Rossica Translation Prize. Contact Natasha Perova (perova@ glas.msk.ru) or go to www.russianpress.com/glas for more information.
Needless to say, there are more authors than prizes, and not everyone gets first place. Alexei Ivanov is one of the most talked about writers in the Russian scene (“the most unassuming star of Russian belles-lettres”, according to Harper’s Bazaar), but hasn’t won anything (yet!) despite having sold over 50,000 copies of every published title. His latest, Cheap Porn, takes place in the small Russian town of Kovyazin, near the Ural mountains. Boris Morzhov, an artist, alcoholic and ladies’ man, works in the Municipal Center for Continuing Education with his friend Kosterych, the company’s regional specialist. When the local authorities want to shut down the center and fire a large number of its teachers, the pair take action. Cheap Porn is a novel full of depressing provincial realities, loveless sex, dirty money and social commentary with a humorous side, conveying Russia’s version of American suburbia. The Goumen & Smirnova agency handle Ivanov’s foreign rights; contact goumen@gs-agency.com or smirnova@gs-agency.com for details.
Mass marketing techniques are also developing at an astounding rate in Russia, to the benefit of the book industry and up-and-coming authors. In June, a virtually unknown publishing house named Popularnaya Literatura released a 10,000 copy print run of a book by an equally unknown author, Eduard Bagirov. The book was an enormous hit without any prior credentials, and the publisher’s follow-up effort, Metro 3033 by Dmitri Glukovsky, has had equal similar success, topping the lists for the past four weeks. Rumor has it that the President’s public relations committee was behind the advertising plan, which the Moscow Times reported billboards to have lined the city’s highways with just one word: Gastarbeiter, the title of Bagirov’s book and German term for “Guest Worker.” Gastarbeiter is a timely account of an immigrant worker’s life; protagonist Yevgeny comes to Russia from Turkmenistan at the age of 21 to make a living, spends time selling cheap back-massage machines, then works his way up to a career in real estate, construction and transport. The novel details his close brushes with the law, the mafia, and the immigrant discrimination so prevalent in Russia today, with the character struggling to stay honest. The author had similar experiences and has told the press that his book is “80% autobiographical.” Contact poplit@newmediastars.com or go to gastarbeiter.ru.
Similar marketing techniques also helped Liudmila Ulitskaya, who has previously been published by Random House in the US, promote her most recent novel entitled Daniel Stein. Just don’t compare her to the likes of Danielle Steel: “It is quality upmarket fiction, challenging even a professional reader,” comments Julia Goumen. Goumen describes the promotional campaign as “unprecedented: huge posters across central prospects of Petersburg and Moscow, POS materials, TV advertising–never before has a publisher invested as much in the promotion of a book. And it was for the first time that a book of a “living classic” author sold out in terms of mass market fiction.” Daniel Stein tackles the ageless question of what “good” really is, setting the story of a Polish Jew in Germany, modern-day Israel, the U.S. and Russia amidst during the turbulent times of World War 2, the fall of the Soviet Union and the tragedies of the Holocaust. Stein, the protagonist, escapes the Nazis and saves hundreds of lives by pretending he is a Gestapo officer and translator, and ends up converting to Christianity and moving to Israel. But the novel features many more characters, and looks closely at the significance of Christianity, Judaism and guilt. Gallimard has already published. For info, contact agent Elena Kostioukovitch (elkost@perevod.it) or Linda Michaels (lmlagency@aol.com) for US rights.
