Excerpts from the novels shortlisted for the third Booker Russian Novel Prize read like complete stories and are followed by summaries of the novels and authors' notes. Included are: Bulat Okudzhava (Winner), The Show is Over; Peter Aleshkovsky, The Life of Ferret; Yuri Buida, Don Domino; Alexei Slapovsky, The First Second Coming; Mikhail Levitin, Total Impropriety; Igor Dolinyak, The Third World. Also a story by Mark Kharitonov, the first winner of the Russian Booker, which is a sequel to his prize-winning novel. Others include Asar Eppel whose style and themes are reminiscent of Babel and Sholem Aleichem, and Nikolai Klimontovich, a Soviet Casanova, telling his naughty stories where sex and politics are intertwined.
