The Beggar and Other Stories

'Gazdanov is a modernist master' -- Irish Times

'The Gazdanov revival... is nothing short of a literary event' --TLS

In a Paris underpass, dirty and dressed in rags, stands a silent beggar. In the evening, he walks the deserted streets; at night, he sleeps in a small, foetid crate vacated by the death of another beggar. He is poor and he is ill, but, on reflection, he is free.

Never before published in English, this landmark collection represents a series of six compact miniatures by modernist master Gaito Gazdanov. From the exploits of a secret agent on a mission to Soviet Russia, to the drama of an adulterous affair with the power to destroy a woman and her family, these lyrical stories have it all.

Translated with intelligence and grace by Bryan Karetnyk, The Beggar and Other Stories shows the author of The Spectre of Alexander Wolf at his very best.