Mr Zinik's work is not destined for "the masses" and I don't think he really wants it to be enjoyed by too many. The use of the languare is so sofisticated that sometimes one wanders how the author with all those complicated words manages not to get wherever he wanted to get initially. Couple of stories are amusing but too long (for the content) and most of them are promising at start and dissapointing at the end. I would not recommend buying this book unless you are particularly interested in the mindset of intellectualised Russian intelligencia that is trying to meet ends in England and is unhappy about everything.

Zinovy Zinik in Mind the Doors presents five "long" short stories describing the poignant and sometimes painful life of the unassimilated Russian émigré in post cold-war London (with the exception of the fifth, which takes place in Moscow). His use of language to describe his character's observations evokes images in such colorful and vibrant ways as to allow us to remember similar feelings in our own past when we perhaps encountered parallel situations, images that were otherwise forgotten until reawakened by his prose. His use of simile contributes mirthful examples of his "take" on the situation at hand. The entree into the mind of his hero as he deals with the physical events he encounters is both empathy-arousing as well as entertaining. Because these are essentially short stories, this is a great book to pick up and read either intermittently or all at once, as your time permits. The bottom line: A not-to-be-missed visit into the lives of people you may have never encountered but have observed from a distance-a truly remarkable book!

R. Z.

Zinovy Zinik is famous for his brilliant novels, translated into many European languages and adapted for the cinema and TV. But his stories are no less delightful and witty. Set across the width of Europe and a time span of almost twenty years, they follow the destiny of the generation which left Russia -- like Zinik himself -- in the mid-1970s. With the same intellectual vigor and the distinctive comic touch of his famous novel, The Mushroom Picker, Zinik catches brilliantly the repeating motifs and inherent duality of emigre life. After the collapse of the Iron Curtain, the once locked past was again opened to returning emigres. "Subtle and playful..." said TLS about his stories. "Typical Zinik: a scary, hilarious feat of conjuring," -- this is from The European.