A Matter of Death and Life
Published on 2. March 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
112 pages
978-0-09-946158-6 (ISBN)
Description
'Kurkov is hugely talented. Truly very funny' Time Out
Marital troubles? Sick of life? Suicide the answer? Why not get yourself a contract killer?
Nothing easier, provided you communicate only by phone and box number. You give him your photograph, specify when and where to find you, then sit back and prepare to die.
Murdered, you will be of greater interest than ever you were in life. More to him than met the eye will be the judgement. A mysterious killing lives long in the popular memory. Our hero meticulously plans his own demise, except for one detail: what if he suddenly decides he wants to live?
Marital troubles? Sick of life? Suicide the answer? Why not get yourself a contract killer?
Nothing easier, provided you communicate only by phone and box number. You give him your photograph, specify when and where to find you, then sit back and prepare to die.
Murdered, you will be of greater interest than ever you were in life. More to him than met the eye will be the judgement. A mysterious killing lives long in the popular memory. Our hero meticulously plans his own demise, except for one detail: what if he suddenly decides he wants to live?
Reviews / Votes
Kurkov's eye for the absurdities of Ukrainian life is as sharp as ever * Sunday Telegraph * A perfectly balanced read * Scotland on Sunday * A brilliant black comedy * Evening Standard * Excellent... Blackly comic. Remarkable * New York Times * Kurkov conjures up both Gogol and Dostoevsky... Genuinely original * <I>Scotsman * Kurkov is a fine satirist and a real, blackly comic find * <I>Observer * Kurkov's writing is highly addictive * <I>Punch * There's a pleasing conceit at the dark heart of this novella * Metro * A dark humorous book that delivers Kurkov's best * Good Book Guide *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 202 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
85 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-946158-6 (9780099461586)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Andrey Kurkov was born in St Petersburg in 1961. Having graduated from the Kiev Foreign Languages Institute, he worked for some time as a journalist, did his military service as a prison warder in Odessa, then became a film cameraman, writer of screenplays and author of critically acclaimed and popular novels, including the cult bestseller Death and the Penguin.