Summer Reads 2011: About Andrey Kurkov
Synopsis
When Kolya moves into a new flat in Kiev, he finds a book hidden within a volume of War and Peace. Intrigued by the annotations that appear on every page, Kolya sets out to discover more about the scribbler. His investigations take him to a graveyard, and more specifically to the coffin of a Ukrainian nationalist who died in mysterious circumstances and was buried with a sealed letter and a manuscript. An exhumation under cover of darkness reveals that an item of great national importance is buried near a fort in Kazakhstan.
As nightwatchman at a baby-milk factory, Kolya exposes himself to the attentions of a criminal gang, and so he decides to leave Kiev for a while. Armed with only three cases of baby milk, which have unexpected hallucinogenic properties, he sets off on what turns out to be a very bizarre journey: crossing the Caspian Sea and traversing the deserts of Kazakhstan. He meets a host of unlikely characters on the way, including Bedouins, ex-KGB officers and a spirit-like companion in the form of a chameleon…
The Good Angel of Death is a classic, first-rate Kurkov yarn which is sure to delight old and new fans alike.
Selected Quotes“A rather beautiful dreamlike journey” - Victoria Moore, Daily Mail
“
Packs a lot of plot into this deadpan satire” - Metro
“
Flits between dark and light exploring the twilight zone between fantasy and reality.” - John Thornhill, Financial Times
Author Biography
Andrey
Kurkov was born in St Petersburg in 1961. Having graduated from the Kiev Foreign Languages Institute, he worked for some time as a journalist, did his military service as a prison warder in Odessa, then became a film cameraman, writer of screenplays and author of critically acclaimed and popular novels.
Author website - Facebook Page
Other books by Andrey Kurkov
(In English)
Death and the Penguin
Penguin Lost
A Matter of Death and Life
The Case of the General's Thumb
The President's Last Love
The Good Angel of Death