The Men's Car

This voiced collection “The Men’s Wagon” includes several stories by Dmitry Bykov, four of which are written in rhyme. “A story as a genre requires a sense of proportion and rhythm,” writes Dmitry Bykov, “and that’s why my first stories were in verse: there’s no room to spread out—the form dictates. That’s how ‘Night Trains,’ dreams about the circle, and Gomorrah appeared. And the best story—one that I, of course, haven’t written yet and probably won’t write—is supposed to balance between poetry and prose. This collection includes those comparatively few pieces where I managed to approach this synthesis. A good story should be like life—so that beyond its borders something incomprehensible flickers and promises. Maybe that’s why writing a good story is almost as hard as living a good life.”