"This selection of mainly newly translated stories from the 20th century includes both well-known writers and new voices. It eschews traditional selections from the former category and presents startling writings from the latter. As the editors-translators put it themselves in their lucid introduction, these stories together form a "mega-novel" about Russia of the previous century from its first revolution to post-perestroika times."
— Irene Masing-Delic, Ohio State University

Valentina Brougher (PhD University of Kansas) is Professor Emerita, Department of Slavic Languages, Georgetown University. Her articles on 20th century Russian writers have been published in major academic journals, and her translations of 20th century prose have appeared in anthologies and special editions. Mark Lipovetsky (PhD Ural State University, Russia) has lived in the USA since 1996 and is an associate professor of Russian Studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He is the author of six monographs, numerous articles in major American and Russian journals, and recipient of many grants and fellowships, including a Fulbright, SSRC, and Leverhulme (UK). Frank Miller (PhD Indiana University) is a professor of Slavic Languages at Columbia University and coordinator of the Columbia-Barnard College Russian language program. He is the author or coauthor of several widely-used Russian textbooks and translator of Russian prose.