The destruction of Pompeii & other stories /

Vassily Aksyonov, born in 1932 and now a resident of Washington, DC, was the most important new Soviet writer of the 1960s. As his writing became thematically and stylistically more adventurous, he was pressured into emigration in 1979. Although Aksyonov's novels and stories give a stunning picture of the rise and decline of the hopes of the Soviet intelligentsia, they transcend the merely topical and treat universal themes with a sure artistry. The present volume gathers six of Aksyonov's best stories, ranging from the landmark "Steel Bird" (1965) to the 1979 title story. All have appeared in previous English-language collections: The Steel Bird and Other Stories (1979), Surplussed Barrelware (1985), and Quest for an Island (CH, Jun'88). For libraries lacking these earlier volumes, the present collection will be a valuable addition. Handsomely produced as part of the new "Ardis Contemporary Russian Prose series," the volume contains useful notes and a brief introductory essay.-D. B. Johnson, University of California, Santa Barbara