Selected Short Stories

A Russian author who died in 1932, Grin's work was ignored for most of his life in his native country. Today, he has become one of the most popular writers in the Soviet Union. Grin's writing is filled with nervous energy, his enigmatic characters always poised on the edge of an important self-discovery. He was a hobo who flirted briefly with communism at the beginning of the century, and this definitive collection of his short stories, most translated into English for the first time, reflects his checkered career. The protagonist of ``Oranges,'' political prisoner Bron, is courted by a young woman from ``the outside'' who sends him messages hidden inside the fruit. In ``Ships in Liss'' Bitt-Boy makes a pact with the captain of asailing vessel to lead him out of the clutches of a pirate; in Reno Island a sailor, Tart, jumps ship and discovers a tropical paradise he has no wish to escape from. Grin's subject matter is the idealist at odds with the world. This beautifully crafted collection shows his talent to best advantage. (October)