{"product_id":"stravaging-strange-russian-library-9780231199469","title":"Stravaging Strange (Russian Library)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIm not on good terms with the present day  Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky once mused  but posterity loves me. Virtually unknown during his lifetime and unpublishable under Stalin  he now draws comparisons to Beckett  Borges  Gogol  and Swift. This book presents three tales that encapsulate Krzhizhanovskys gift for creating philosophical  satirical  and lyrical phantasmagorias.  Stravaging Strange details the darkly comic adventures of an apprentice magus: lovesick  he imbibes a magic tincture to reduce himself to the size of a dust mote  the better to observe the young lady in question. He stumbles across a talkative king of hearts  a gallant flea  a coven of vindictive house imps  and his romantic rival along the way to a cinematic dnouement. Catastrophe wryly parodies Kants philosophy: an old sage decides to extract the essence from all things and beings in a ruthless attempt to understand realityand chaos ensues. Material for a Life of Gorgis Katafalaki  set in Berlin  Paris  London  and Moscow  recounts the absurd trials of an otherworldly outsider of uncertain nationality and unfixed profession with boundless curiosity but scant means.  This book also includes excerpts from Krzhizhanovskys notebooksaphoristic glimpses of his worldview  moods  humor  and writing methodsand reminiscences of Krzhizhanovsky by his lifelong companion  Anna Bovshek  beginning with their first meeting in Kiev in 1920 and ending with his death in Moscow in 1950.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45960474722357,"sku":"ByrdShop_0231199465","price":75.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780231199469.jpg?v=1788288355","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/stravaging-strange-russian-library-9780231199469","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}