Fact
Reviews

Skip to the Obits

ANNMARIE MACKINNON

In Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov (Melville House), a man named Viktor Zolotaryov lands a seemingly cushy job writing obituaries of Ukrainian dignitaries who are not yet dead for a Kiev newspaper in the mid-199s. Zolotaryov lives with his only friend, a forlorn penguin called Misha, adopted from the insolvent city zoo. Soon, the subjects of Zolotaryov’s obituaries begin to die under suspicious circumstances; Zolotaryov is charged with the care of a child, hires a nanny, hooks up with the nanny, and the mafia closes in, with bleak and absurdist consequences. Zolotaryov and the penguin attempt to navigate this world, each feeling out of their element, subject to machinations beyond their knowledge or control and ill-equipped to deal with them. The novel, first published in 1996, is particularly prescient of Ukraine’s present political climate. In a tamer, Canadian context, between reading this book and listening to CBC election coverage, I couldn’t help but relate to the penguin.

Tags
No items found.

ANNMARIE MACKINNON

AnnMarie MacKinnon is an editor, writer and instructor. She was the publisher of Geist from 2017 to 2021.


SUGGESTIONS FOR YOU

Dispatches
David Sheskin

PRESS 1 IF

PRESS 1 IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THE BIG BANG.

Reviews
Debby Reis

Dreaming of Androids

Review of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? " by Philip K. Dick.

Reviews
Patty Osborne

Teenaged Boys, Close Up

Review of "Sleeping Giant" directed by Andrew Cividino and written by Cividino, Blain Watters and Aaron Yeger.