Petr Aleshkovsky's interest in human psychology and his ability to craft an engaging tale and endow his writing with both a philosophical depth and a strong moral dimension follow in the tradition of Russian classical writing. His incorporation of folk beliefs and the mystical and irrational into his narratives, as well as his attention to history, are in concert with the literary dynamics and thematic preoccupations of the post-perestroika period. Although Aleshkovsky (a nephew of the writer Iosif Efimovich Aleshkovsky, also known as Iuz Aleshkovsky) began to be published only in the 1990s, he is already recognized as one of the most promising writers of the younger generation. His povest', or novella, Zhizneopisanie khor'ka (first published in the journal Druzhba narodov [The People's Friendship], 1993; collected in book form, 1999; translated as Skunk: A Life, 1997) was short-listed for the Booker Russian Novel Prize in 1994, and his novel Vladimir Chigrintsev (first...