"This is . . . real literature, pure and honest."
--Vladimir Nabokov
"The scintillating English-language debut from Felsen . . . [is] a
fittingly volatile record of ruinous desire.
--Publishers Weekly
Once considered the 'Russian Proust', Yuri Felsen tells the story of an
obsessive love affair set in interwar Europe in Deceit, an
experimental novel in the form of a diary that is an as-yet-undiscovered
landmark of Russian émigré literature.
We meet our unnamed narrator in Paris in the 20s, where he finds himself
an expat after the Russian Revolution. At a friend's request he meets
the beautiful, clever socialite Lyolya, also a recent exile from Russia.
What begins as casual friendship quickly turns into fascination and
obsession, as Lyolya gives mixed signals and pursues other men. Our
narrator, emerging from a depression, is soon overwhelmed by the very
idea of her, which begins to contour all of his observations, thoughts,
and feelings. While Lyolya continues to live a life unencumbered by the
forces of social convention, and history, our narrator's revelations,
written in diary form, grow increasingly painful, familiar, and rich
with psychological introspection.
Quite unlike any other writer in the Russian canon, Felsen evokes in
poetic and idiosyncratic prose not only the Zeitgeist of interwar Europe
and his émigré milieu, but also the existential crisis of the age.
