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Of Sunshine and Bedbugs

Essential Stories
By Isaac Babel
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Brief Description
Isaac Babel honed one of the most distinctive styles in all Russian literature. Brashly conversational one moment, dreamily lyrical the next, his stories exult in the richness of everyday speech and sensual pleasure only to be shaken by brutal jolts of violence. These stories take us... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
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Releases 12th January 2027 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "Of Sunshine and Bedbugs" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Isaac Babel honed one of the most distinctive styles in all Russian literature. Brashly conversational one moment, dreamily lyrical the next, his stories exult in the richness of everyday speech and sensual pleasure only to be shaken by brutal jolts of violence.

These stories take us from the underworld of Babel's native Odessa, city of gangsters and low-lives, of drunken brawls and bleeding sunsets, to the terror and absurdity of life as a soldier in the Polish-Soviet War. Selected and translated by the prize-winning Boris Dralyuk, this collection captures the irreverence, passion and coarse beauty of Babel's singular voice.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781805332831

Publisher: Pushkin Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 08 October 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Pushkin Press Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Boris Dralyuk

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 256

Collections

Classic Fiction Classic General Fiction Coming Soon in Fiction Fiction Fiction in Translation General Fiction Isaac Babel Literary Fiction Pre-order Books Pre-order General Fiction Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date

About the Author

Isaac Babel was a short-story writer, playwright, literary translator and journalist. He joined the Red Army as a correspondent during the Russian civil war. The first major Russian-Jewish writer to write in Russian, he was hugely popular during his lifetime. He was murdered in Stalin's purges in 1940, at the age of forty-five.

Boris Dralyuk is the translator of Isaac Babel, Andrey Kurkov and other authors. A widely published poet and critic, he is the author of My Hollywood and Other Poems (2022), and is the recipient of the 2022 Gregg Barrios Translation Prize from the National Book Critics Circle and of a 2024 Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He teaches English and Creative Writing at the University of Tulsa and is the editor-in-chief of Nimrod International Journal.

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