A School for Fools

Praise

“A work of genius voiced by a narrator and his double — simultaneously. It’s a Joycean work that unravels in fits and starts, but always beautifully….[by] one of the great living Russian writers.” —Flavorwire

“Sokolov’s A School for Fools should be considered one of the finest 20th-century Russian novels.” —Harvey Pekar, The Washington Post

“If Joyce had written the last chapter of Ulysses in Russian it would have sounded like this.” —Vladimir Markov

“[Sokolov] develops ideas and techniques from Gogol, Dostoevsky, and Joyce, to name a few predecessors—but he uses themes like doubling, madness, and sexual obsession in a way that is his own and feels completely new. . . The hero of the book is language itself, and I’m happy to say that the previous inadequate translation has been superseded by Alexander Boguslawski’s superb one. . . You won’t be disappointed.” —Stephen Dodsen, The Millions

“Sokolov is one of those rare novelists whose primary concern is the praise and exploration of a language rather than the development of a position. In this, he is in the line of Gogol, Lermontov, Nabokov. ‘For me, the Bible says it: The Word is God,’ Sokolov says, ‘and God is more important than life.’ ” —David Remnick, The Washington Post

“An enchanting, tragic, and touching work.” —Vladimir Nabokov
 
“[A School for Fools] will undoubtedly come to be recognized as one of the great classics of Russian prose.” —Newsweek
 
“The voice is amazingly sensitive and imaginative, gloriously lucid of language and full of broad comedy and whimsical wit. For all its gloominess, this strange novel is a celebration of life.” —The Washington Post
 
“A lyrical vision of extraordinary intensity. Sokolov is an astounding new voice.” —Chicago Daily News
 
“A puzzling and wonderful book. The novel is an anti-authoritarian statement, a compassionate cry for understanding of those who are different, the nonconformists of any society who must find their own way.” —The Kansas City Star
 
“One of the most original and talented works to emerge from the Soviet Union in many years.” —The Times Literary Supplement