Rock, Paper, Scissors ― And Other Stories

The first English-language collection of a contemporary Russian master of the short story.

Maxim Osipov, who lives and practices medicine in a town ninety miles outside Moscow, is one of Russia's best-regarded writers. In the tradition of Anton Chekhov and William Carlos Williams, he draws on his experiences in medicine to craft stories of great subtlety and striking insight. Rich in compassion but devoid of cheap sentiment, Osipov's fiction presents a nuanced, collage-like portrait of life in provincial Russia -- its tragedies, its infinite frustrations, and its moments of humble beauty and inspiration. The twelve stories in this volume depict doctors, actors and actresses, screenwriters, teachers, entrepreneurs, local political bosses, and common criminals, whose paths intersect in unpredictable yet entirely natural ways: in sickrooms, classrooms, administrative offices, on trains, and in the air. Their encounters lead to disasters, major and minor epiphanies, and -- on occasion -- the promise of redemption. "Life is scary, whether you're in Moscow, St. Petersburg, or the provinces," Osipov's narrator tells us in "The Cry of the Domestic Fowl," which opens the collection. And yet, he concludes, "[t]he world doesn't break, no matter what you throw at it. That's just how it's built."

Maxim Osipov is a cardiologist, social activist, and writer of short fiction. In 1994, he founded a publishing company specializing in medical translation, and in 2007, he began writing essays, short stories, novellas, and dramas. He has published three collections of prose and was the recipient of the Kazakov Prize for the best short story of 2010.

Sana Krasikov is the author of The Patriots and One More Year. She's a recipient of Granta's Best of Young American Novelists prize and a National Book Foundation ‘5 under 35’ Award.

Boris Dralyuk's most recent translations include Isaac Babel's Red Cavalry and Odessa Stories, and his writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Times Literary Supplement, and elsewhere. He is the executive editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Alex Fleming is a translator of Swedish and Russian literature. In 2015, she was awarded the British Centre for Literary Translation’s Emerging Translator mentorship for Russian. She lives in London.

Anne Marie Jackson has lived for extended periods in Russia and Moldova. She is a co-translator, with Robert Chandler and Rose France, of Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me: The Best of Teffi (available as an NYRB classic). Her previous translations include works by Alexei Nikitin, Maxim Osipov, and Olga Slavnikova.