Vladimir Sorokin’s novel “Marina’s Thirtieth Love” was first published in 1995, though it was written ten years earlier, in 1982–1984—while the novel itself takes place in 1983. The main character is a thirty-year-old Marina Alexeyeva, a typical representative of the 1980s bohemian set: a dissatisfied dissident who didn’t become a pianist, teaching music at the House of Culture of one of Moscow’s factories. Sorokin begins the narrative by describing Marina’s past, including her many love affairs. Despite the huge number of partners—both men and women—Marina is unhappy in love and unsuccessfully tries to find her place in this world. Suddenly, the factory party committee secretary Sergey Rumyantsev appears on her horizon. The romance with him leads to an unexpected metamorphosis and radically changes her life…