Gromov is merely a forgotten writer of Soviet propagandist novels. But he has left behind his Books & the powers they impart
- the Fury to tear enemies limb from limb, the Memory of a perfect childhood, the Strength to overcome all fear of death. These books transform believers from senile to lucid, cowardly to brave, weak to strong. Soon, Libraries of readers start to emerge, waging war on one another to seize precious copies of the Books & terrible consequences ensue. Trapped in the middle of this world inhabited by society`s outcasts
- the decrepit, the heartbroken, the abandoned, the abused
- is the young & unremarkable Alexei. Everything will change when he inherits a Book of Memory, & therefore becomes...a Librarian. Blending depravity, black humour, reality & myth, Elizarov casts a satirical eye over Soviet Russia in this epic masterpiece & winner of the Russian Booker Prize-a tale of human longing, unwavering belief, & the search for meaning in a chaotic, illusory world.` Elizarov is an heir to the classic Russian writers` Prochtenie ` Belongs to that glittering vein of the burlesque & fantastic, which runs through the strata of Russian literature like a seam of gold.` Magazine Litteraire ` Powerful, disturbing, & at the same time, uplifting` Vzgliad `A truly bright author & an ingenious writer` Vladimir Sorokin, author of Ice Trilogy & Day of the Oprichnik ` The most radical of Russian Booker winners` Snob ` Uncompromising, bizarre & desperate` Gazeta ` How words can be more dangerous than machine-guns` Proza `A world of myths...and a requiem for a broken country` Questions of Literature Mikhail Elizarov b. 1973 in the Ukraine studies literature & moves to Hanover Germany to study cinema. In 2001, Fingernails first caught media attention & his fourth novel The Librarian was awarded the 2008 Russian Booker Prize. He write for magazines including GQ & Playboy & currently lives in Moscow.