The Spectre of Alexander Wolf

A superb early postmodern classic by one of Nabokov’s fellow émigré writers, rediscovered after more than half a century

"This psychological novel takes stock of death, war, violence and the guilt that undergirds it all." — The New York Times Book Review

A man comes across a short story which recounts in minute detail his killing of a soldier, long ago - from the victim''s point of view. It''s a story that should not exist, and whose author can only be a dead man.

So begins the strange quest for its elusive writer: "Alexander Wolf."

A singular classic, The Spectre of Alexander Wolf is a psychological thriller and existential inquiry into guilt and redemption, coincidence and fate, love and death

'A tantalising mystery... a mesmerising work of literature' Antony Beevor'Truly troubling, a weird meditation on death, war and sex' Paris ReviewA superb early postmodern classic by one of Nabokov's fellow émigré writers, rediscovered after more than half a centuryA man comes across a short story which recounts in minute detail his killing of a soldier, long ago - from the victim's point of view. It's a story that should not exist, and whose author can only be a dead man. So begins the strange quest for its elusive writer: 'Alexander Wolf'. A singular classic, The Spectre of Alexander Wolf is a psychological thriller and existential inquiry into guilt and redemption, coincidence and fate, love and death. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globeTranslated by Bryan KaretnykGaito Gazdanov (1903-1971) joined the White Army aged just sixteen and fought in the Russian Civil War. Exiled in Paris from the 1920s onwards, he eventually became a nocturnal taxi-driver and quickly gained prominence on the literary scene as a novelist, essayist, critic and short-story writer, and was greatly acclaimed by Maxim Gorky, among others.