The Sinistra Zone

Entering a weird, remote hamlet, Andrei calls himself "a simple wayfarer," but he is in fact highly compromised: he has no identity papers. Taken under the wing of the military zone's commander, Andrei is first assigned to guard the blueberries that supply a nearby bear reserve. He is surrounded by human wrecks, supernatural umbrellas, birds carrying plagues, albino twins.

The bears -- and an affair with a married woman -- occupy Andrei until his protector is replaced by a new female commander, "a slender creature, quiet, diaphanous, like a dragonfly," and yet an iron-fisted harridan. As things grow ever more alarming, Andrei becomes a "corpse watchman," standing guard over the dead to check for any signs of life, and then ...

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Published: 08/26/2013
ISBN: 9780811219785
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.20w x 0.50d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 06/24/2013
New York Times Book Review 09/01/2013 pg. 30