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sergei lebedev's oblivion (predel zabvenya) is his first novel (and the first of his books to be translated into english, with the year of the comet to follow this year). with exquisite prose and ample metaphor, lebedev confronts the legacy of russia's often dark past, melding a poetic style and an emotional abundance. though not a coming-of-age tale in an traditional sense, oblivion follows its young narrator from youth to adulthood, as he tries to make sense of all that's come before � both personally and politically. poignant and haunting, lebedev's debut is a gorgeous work of uncompromising fiction.

and then you understand that the deathly communion was not accidental. through it, as through newly granted vision, you see your body, your memory, your fate as predestination: the inheritance of blood, the inheritance of memories, the inheritance of other lives—everything wants to speak, seeks to complete itself, to happen to the end, to be recognized and mourned.

*translated from the russian by antonina w. bouis (dovlatov, tolstaya, bulgakov, et al.)