Today I Wrote Nothing - by Daniil Kharms (Paperback)

About the Book

A master of formally inventive poetry and what today would be called micro-fiction, Kharms built off the legacy of Russian Futurist writers to create a uniquely deadpan style written out of and in spite of the absurdities of life in Stalinist Russia.

Book Synopsis

A major contribution for American readers and students of Russian literature and an exciting discovery for fans of contemporary writers as eclectic as George Saunders, John Ashbery, and Martin McDonagh, Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writings of Daniil Kharms is an invaluable collection for readers of innovative writing everywhere. Featuring the acclaimed novella The Old Woman and darkly humorous short prose sequence "Events (Sluchai)," Today I Wrote Nothing also includes dozens of short prose pieces, plays, and poems long admired in Russia, but never before available in English. Daniil Kharms has long been heralded as one of the most iconoclastic writers of the Soviet era, but the full breadth of his achievement only followed the opening of Kharms's archives being recognized internationally. In this brilliant translation by Matvei Yankelevich, English-language readers now have a comprehensive collection of the prose and poetry that secured Kharms's literary reputation a reputation that grew in Russia even as the Soviet establishment worked to suppress it.

Review Quotes

"Brilliant, hilarious, violent little stories."-George Saunders, "The New York Times Book Review"

ABrilliant, hilarious, violent little stories.A AGeorge Saunders, "The New York Times Book Review"

About the Author

Daniil Kharms (1905-1958) is a Russian author and poet. His books include It Happened Like This, Today I Wrote Nothing, and A Failed Performance.