Media Center: ‘Enchanted Wanderer’ by Nikolai Leskov
WHO: Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
WHAT: A new translation of Nikolai Leskov’s THE ENCHANTED WANDERER and Other Stories
WHEN: Published by Knopf March 26, 2013
WHERE: The stories are all set in Russia
WHY:
“A welcome new translation of Leskov’s grand metaphysical romp, a hallmark of 19th-century Russian literature.
“Nikolai Leskov (1831–1895) is less well-known in this country than his near-contemporaries Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and even if Anton Chekhov claimed him as a literary ancestor—and that’s saying something—Leskov’s masterpiece doesn’t often figure on reading lists. Pevear and Volokhonsky, late of War and Peace, Anna Karenina and Dr. Zhivago, may remedy that with this accessible translation.
“The stories gathered here, all lightly linked in the way that those of the Canterbury Tales are, remain marvels of narration, sacred and profane. The opener is a stern study in the dangers of adultery; then come other pieces set in ‘Wooden Russia,’ the old heartland south of Moscow, with all its elaborate prejudices against Gypsies, Jews, Ukrainians and the other outsiders who so often figure in Leskov’s pages…
“A literate delight, and a book to look forward to reading more than once.”
—KIRKUS
“Altogether exceptional.
Pevear and Volokhonsky reinvigorate Leskov in sharp, plain, vitally annotated versions of 17 pieces that show off his distinctives.” —Ray Olson, BOOKLIST
Translated from the Russian by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.
Media Resources:
About the book | Translator bios | Download the jacket or the author photo
Publicist for this title:
Kathy Zuckerman | 212-572-2105 | kzuckerman@randomhouse.com