"The protagonists are uniquely placed to compare the strengths and weaknesses of the Russian and German temperaments, and they do not come down unambiguously in favor of orderly Europe."—Arch Tait, translatorThe characters exist in the cross-cultural space between Russia and Germany. Dmitry Vachedin describes his personal experiences of growing up as a German in Russia and then moving to Germany to find himself an alien again.Influenced by Vladimir Nabokov and Thomas Mann, Dmitry Vachedin is a winner of the Debut and Russian prizes.