The Year of the Comet - by Sergei Lebedev (Paperback)

About the Book

A stunning novel about growing up in Russia on the brink of collapse, from the preeminent storyteller of his generation.

Book Synopsis

"Rich in textures, colors, sounds, and visual details ... The best of Russia's younger generation of writers." --The New York Review of Books

From the critically acclaimed author of Oblivion comes Year of the Comet, a story of a Russian boyhood and coming of age as the Soviet Union is on the brink of collapse. An idyllic childhood takes a sinister turn. Rumors of a serial killer haunt the neighborhood, families pack up and leave town without a word of warning, and the country begins to unravel. Policemen stand by as protesters overtake the streets, knowing that the once awe-inspiring symbols of power they wear on their helmets have become devoid of meaning. Lebedev depicts a vast empire coming apart at the seams, transforming a very public moment into something tender and personal, and writes with stunning beauty and shattering insight about childhood and the growing consciousness of a boy in the world.

Sergei Lebedev was born in Moscow in 1981 and worked for seven years on geological expeditions in Russia and Central Asia. Lebedev is a poet, essayist and journalist. Oblivion, his first novel, was published in 2016 by New Vessel Press, to great acclaim.

Review Quotes

"Sergei Lebedev writes about our failure to understand the Stalinist era and to see that Russia is today a country torn into pieces. Lebedev's characters seek ways to cut the umbilical cord with the past."--Svetlana Alexievich, 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

"Examines the psychological trauma Stalinism continues to unleash--even on those who never lived during his reign ... Antonina W. Bouis has translated the best of Soviet and post-Soviet writings ... and the ease with which she renders Mr. Lebedev's prose creates the illusion that both his novels were originally written in English."--The Wall Street Journal

"You read and reread Lebedev's lyrical, cutting prose with equal amounts of awe and enjoyment. This gorgeously written, unsettling novel--a rare work about the fall of the Soviet Union as told through the eyes of a child--leaves us with a fresh understanding of that towering moment in recent history."--Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"Arrives like a brilliant meteoric streak to illuminate the intricacies of Russian national identity and the cataclysmic fall of the Soviet Union ... Poetic and penetrating, and demonstrating an incredible talent for nuance and paradox ... One of the best books of the year, and may be one of the best novels to come out of Russia in a generation."--Shelf Awareness (Starred Review)

"Depicts objects in a stunningly, almost freakishly precise way, coaxing the metaphysical to express itself through the material ... In The Year of the Comet, coming of age is not about first love, or the discovery of sexuality, it is rather about the fatefulness of action."--The Times Literary Supplement

"Explores the thrills and failures of the late Soviet Union through the eyes of a young boy. Both a coming-of-age story and the tale of a family cut off from its history, The Year of the Comet is a touching portrait of bonds that span generations."--World Literature Today

"Gorgeously written ... leaves readers with a new insight into a towering moment in modern history."--The Winnipeg Free Press

"The work of an extremely talented writer whose prose is spare and exact and has an authenticity that marks him as the real thing."--The Arts Fuse

"Absorbing ... A seamlessly written child's-eye view that conveys an adult understanding of history's burdens."--Library Journal (Starred Review)

"A remarkable bildungsroman ... a smart, convincing novel."--Publishers Weekly

"Sergei Lebedev, now a confirmed new Russian literary star, masterfully proceeds with his work."--Le Figaro littéraire

Praise for Sergei Lebedev's previous novelOblivion

"A clear poetic sensibility built to stand against the forces of erasure."--The Wall Street Journal

"Beautifully written, haunting and unputdownable. A masterpiece novel."--Edward Lucas, senior editor, The Economist

About the Author

Sergei Lebedev was born in Moscow in 1981 and worked for seven years on geological expeditions in northern Russia and Central Asia. Lebedev is a poet, essayist and journalist. Oblivion, his first novel, has been translated into many languages, and was published in English by New Vessel Press.

Antonina W. Bouis is one of the leading translators of Russian literature working today. She has translated over 80 works from authors such as Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Mikhail Bulgakov, Andrei Sakharov, Sergei Dovlatov and Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Bouis, previously executive director of the Soros Foundation in the former USSR, now lives in New York City.