Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Apr 2007
416 pages
Genre: Short Stories
Publication Information
The wonderful verve, unflagging verbal invention, and wicked charm that Tatyana Tolstaya brings to the short story have earned her a devoted audience all over the world. Edna O’Brien has called her “an enchantress.” Anita Desai has spoken of her work’s “richness and ardent life.” Stemming from a Russian tradition of heartbreak and humor, mixing harsh realism and disconcerting fantasy with lyrical abandon, Tolstaya is the natural successor to the Bulgakov of The Master and Margarita and the Nabokov of Pnin. In these pages we meet Denisov, who dreams of composing a treatise that will prove the metaphysical impossibility of Australia; Natasha, who searches not only Leningrad but her memory for a great love she knows she once had. Tolstaya’s gift for characterization is unequaled, and again and again she shows how the extraordinary will suddenly erupt in the midst of ordinary life.
"Starred Review. Beautiful, imaginative and disconcerting, Tolstaya's Russia is a labyrinth of treasures and horrors." - PW.
"Children, old folks and the struggling in-betweens-Tolstaya sees into all their hearts. Remarkable." - Kirkus.
This information about White Walls was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
A paperback original from Tolstoy's great-grandniece, a longtime New Yorker fiction contributor. The collection includes her two previous story collections, On the Golden Porch and Sleepwalker in a Fog, along with more recent work.
The Stone Home
by Crystal Hana Kim
A moving family drama and coming-of-age story revealing a dark corner of South Korean history.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
