Dovlatov and Surroundings

“Appearing almost a quarter of a century after the publication of the Russian original, Rojavin's translation into English of Aleksandr Genis’s Dovlatov i okrestnosti, an ambivalent tribute to Russian literary historian Sergei Dovlatov, is flawless. … Including (often-unattributed) witticisms… this book… provides a sociohistorical record of the Russian immigrant life and elements of the diaspora trying to maintain the identity of their native land. … Recommended.

— D. Hutchins, CHOICE

“Dovlatov and Surroundings in this new translation offers a cocktail of brilliant spirits: An informative introduction by accomplished scholar Mark Lipovetsky, then Alexander Genis’s striking and influential study of beloved (and tremendously funny) émigré author Sergei Dovlatov. Bilingual translator Alexander Rojavin has brought Genis’s work into precise and idiomatic English, hitting every note right.”

— Sibelan Forrester, Susan W. Lippincott Professor of Modern and Classical Languages and Russian, Swarthmore College

“A famous Russian émigré writer and a sharp Russian literary critic meet in this blend of a literary biography and a memoir. Sergei Dovlatov’s massive personality is portraited by Alexander Genis sympathetically and with keen observations. In this book, life and literature intertwine seamlessly, as was the case for both Dovlatov and Genis. Those interested in a detailed account of the aspirations and mind-set of the Soviet immigrants’ literary milieu in New York will find this narrative educational and fascinating. The book works as a perfect entrée to Dovlatov’s simple, but exquisite prose.”

— Olga Bukhina, Translator, Author, Children’s Books Specialist

“Genis achieves the same effect that Dovlatov did: he simultaneously makes the Third Wave of immigration more intimate and more mythological. On the one hand, Dovlatov and Surroundings is the best possible memorial to a generation of immigrants who left the Soviet Union on a Jewish visa and created a new Russian literature abroad. On the other hand, it is a house, filled with joyful and dramatic life, whose doors are open to all who wish to enter. The fact that Genis’s philological novel is coming out in English today is proof of this project’s success. When all is said and done, Genis’s book is an inexhaustible source of optimism…”

— Mark Lipovetsky, from the preface