This 1963 masterpiece is widely considered one of the best novels of the greatest Russian writers of science fiction. Yet until now the only English version (unavailable for over thirty years) was based on a German translation, and was full of errors, infelicities, and misunderstandings. Now, in a new translation by Olena Bormashenko, whose translation of the authors’ Roadside Picnic has received widespread acclaim, here is the definitive edition of this brilliant work. It tells the story of Don Rumata, who is sent from Earth to the medieval kingdom of Arkanar with instructions to observe and to save what he can. Masquerading as an arrogant nobleman, a dueler and a brawler, Don Rumata...

Англичанин по отцу, индиец по матери, герой этой книги вынужден перевоплощаться, становясь тем, кого в нем хотят видеть другие. В Индии он — мальчишка-неприкасаемый, в Англии — молодой аристократ. Меняя маски, он вдруг понимает, что своего лица у него уже нет. Этот реалистический роман, написанный сухим и размеренным языком, затягивает в себя, как воронка, и в конце концов выводит читателя на границы реальности, к метафизическому ужасу пустоты. Хари Кунзру, английский писатель индийского происхождения, несмотря на свою молодость, уже вошел в обойму лучших писателей Старого Света. Роман «Без лица» был признан в Англии лучшим литературным дебютом 2002 года.

Critics have compared him to Martin Amis, Zadie Smith, Tom Wolfe, and Don DeLillo. Granta dubbed him “one of the twenty best fiction writers under forty.” Now Hari Kunzru delivers his “finest novel yet. . bringing to the angry activism of the young in the late sixties all the suspense of a spy thriller.” (Lisa Appignanesi, author of Unholy Loves) Chris Carver is living a lie. His wife, their teenage daughter, and everyone in their circle know him as Michael Frame, suburban dad. They have no idea that as a radical student in the sixties he briefly became a terrorist — protesting the Vietnam War by setting bombs around London. And then one day a ghost from his past turns up on his...

In the desert, you see, there is everything and nothing. . It is God without men. — Honoré de Balzac, Une passion dans le désert, 1830 Jaz and Lisa Matharu are plunged into a surreal public hell after their son, Raj, vanishes during a family vacation in the California desert. However, the Mojave is a place of strange power, and before Raj reappears inexplicably unharmed — but not unchanged — the fate of this young family will intersect with that of many others, echoing the stories of all those who have traveled before them. Driven by the energy and cunning of Coyote, the mythic, shape-shifting trickster, Gods Without Men is full of big ideas, but centered on flesh-and-blood...

There's a message in your inbox. Then, a few moments later, your computer crashes. from the fringes of fame into a million inboxes. Arjun Mehta, computer geek, looks up from his screen to find that he does, after all, have a role to play in the world. Guy Swift, marketing executive with his own agency, a beautiful girlfriend and a handle on modern life, is losing his grip. In this age of instant worldwide communication, anything can happen and anything will Valley. Taking in three continents and following the lives of Guy, Arjun and Leela as they make their way in the real world, Transmission is a brilliant and funny take on life at the click of a mouse.

An anthology of stories edited by Zadie Smith A stellar host of writers explore the cornerstone of fiction writing: character “The Book of Other” People is about character. Twenty-five or so outstanding writers have been asked by Zadie Smith to make up a fictional character. By any measure, creating character is at the heart of the fictional enterprise, and this book concentrates on writers who share a talent for making something recognizably human out of words (and, in the case of the graphic novelists, pictures). But the purpose of the book is variety: straight "realism", if such a thing exists-is not the point. There are as many ways to create character as there are writers, and this...

Na przełomie wieków, w odległym zakątku Indii, angielski urzędnik służby cywilnej poznaje młodą hinduskę podczas wyjątkowo ciężkiej ulewy. Dziewięć miesięcy później, rodzi się dziecko. Jego przyszłość jawi się niepewnie. Jasny kolor skóry Prana Natha jest odbierany jako symbol szlachetnego urodzenia, jednakże, gdy jego prawdziwe pochodzenie wychodzi na jaw zostaje wyrzucony z domu ojca. Sprzedany parze eunuchów, trafia do zaściankowego Pendżabu i staje się przynętą w dynastycznych intrygach rozwiązłego dworu hinduskiego. W końcu ucieka do Bombaju, gdzie odnajduje się w roli Pretty Boba (Ślicznego Boba), księcia dzielnicy czerwonych świateł. Gdy przypadkiem poznaje pewnego pijanego Anglika,...