The Suitcase

Description

Several years after emigrating from the USSR, the author discovers the battered suitcase he had brought with him gathering dust at the back of a wardrobe. As he opens the suitcase, the seemingly undistinguished items he finds inside take on a riotously funny life of their own as Dovlatov inventories the circumstances under which he acquired them. A poplin shirt evokes the bittersweet story of courtship and marriage, a pair of boots calls up the hilarious conclusion to an official banquet, two pea-green crepe socks bring back memories of his partly successful attempt to become a black-market racketeer, while a double-breasted suit reminds him of when he was approached by the KGB to spy on a Swedish writer.

Reviews

'One wishes that he'd lived longer, been published sooner, given us more.' Francine Prose 'A novel reminiscent of a Buster Keaton movie.' The New York Times 'Dovlatov's writing is simple but witty, with a hint of nostalgia; you can't help but smile throughout. His tales open a small window on to daily life in the former Soviet Union.' The Observer 'His manically funny, deceptively simple style is on intimate terms with life's bleak comedy.' The Guardian