"Yury Mamleev is the founder and a recognized master of the genre of metaphysical realism.
This is end-of-the-world literature that investigates the black holes and abysses opening in human souls. “Life is heaven’s mockery of the earth,” the writer himself used to say. In Mamleev’s prose, mysticism is firmly intertwined with reality.
The protagonist of the novel “World and Laughter” disappears without a trace, leaving behind only a reflection in the mirror. Friends who set out to search for him will have to face secret organizations, encounter animated corpses and people-monsters. The unknown and the unknowable cackle at the world and people; dream and waking merge into one.