Pushkin Hills

Populated with unforgettable characters, such as Alikhanov's fellow guides Mitrofanov and Pototsky or the KGB officer Belyaev, and presented here for the first time in the English language, Pushkin Hills is arguably Dovlatov's most personal work and a poignant metaphor on the Russian attitude towards life and art.

An unpublished writer and a chronic alcoholic, Boris Alikhanov is short of cash, at odds with the government and divorced from his wife Tatyana, who intends to emigrate to the West with their daughter Masha. The prospect of a summer job as a tourist guide at the Pushkin Hills preserve offers him hope of bringing back some balance into his existence, but during his stay in the rural estate of Mikhaylovskoye, Alikhanov's life continues to unravel and all his problems come to a head.

About the Author

Born to an Armenian mother and a Jewish father, Sergei Dovlatov (1941-1990) grew up in Leningrad. Because of his writings, which he could not publish in Russia, he was persecuted by the authorities, and ultimately forced into exile in the US, where he developed his talent as a comic writer. Since his death in 1990, Dovlatov has become one of the most popular and widely read authors in Russia.