If I Were...

New names don’t appear out of nowhere: first and foremost, you need “experience—the child of difficult mistakes,” without which there’s nothing to say. Zoya Kazanzhi is experienced enough in dealing with people, educated enough to use that experience, and skilled enough to fit everything she hears/see/feels into short stories. Yes, that’s how her heroes live: sometimes banal, sometimes unexpected, but mostly—ordinary. Yes, life itself is significantly more interesting than literature. But still writers write, and readers read… Zoya Kazanzhi’s book is yet another attempt to reach all the good, human things that get stuck in everyday routine—so as to increase the resistance of our soul.

“ If I Were You ” is 88 city stories in a Facebook style over 240 pages. Zoya Kazanzhi herself says it’s “short sketches where there are no names for the characters, no information about where they live, and practically no mention of their age. Only emotions, relationships, feelings. This is what happens and can happen to each of us.”