The first part of Marina Yasinskaya’s collection “A Fairy Tale for a Star” is a set of fantasy stories, in grotesque distortions of which the realities of our world are easily recognizable. Here, sea wars are waged in swimming pools; here, musicians go shopping for gigs; here, suй-vенір souvenirs are sold briskly and paid for with “aurum” loan cards. In each joke there’s an indecent portion of truth, and in each absurdity there’s a solid dose of our reality.
The second part of the collection is unreal prose, where mysticism, fantasy, and fairy tale are organically combined. Mysterious Keykeepers bring keys to doors of important life events; lovers exchange their glass and iron hearts; professional “random encounters” deliver parcels with feelings; and a mother’s love turns a phantom into a real living child. Here the line between reality and invention sometimes gets lost—so you can easily believe that a miracle really is waiting around the corner.