A farcical detective story and a profoundly refractive tale about a Russian émigré living in prewar Berlin who commits suicide after being humiliated by a jealous husband, only to suffer even greater indiginities in the afterlife. • A wonderfully layered exploration of the vicissitudes of identity, appearance, and the loss of self.
Smurov, a lovelorn and excruciatingly self-conscious Russian tutor, shoots himself after a beating by his mistress' husband. Unsure whether his suicide has been successful or not, Smurov drifts around Berlin, observing his acquaintances, but finds he can discover very little about his own life from the opinions of his distracted, confused fellow-émigrés.
- ISBN10 067972723X
- ISBN13 9780679727231
- Publish Date 5 September 1990 (first published September 1966)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 14 July 2011
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Random House USA Inc
- Imprint Vintage Books
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 128
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780679727231