Suicides and Other Jokers

Yevgeny Chizhov’s tales present different stories about different characters—such as a driver, a strange old man, a hippie, and young artists. Despite the initial difference between them, each novella introduces the theme of “walking on the edge”—between life and death, between what is allowed and what is forbidden, between love and hatred. Chizhov connects his characters through their willingness to experiment on themselves in the search for truth and their reckless attitude toward life and death. His narratives sometimes grow into metaphors for modern disasters or intersect with his own stories, which adds an autobiographical character to his works.