Yury Miloslavsky is one of the most highly regarded writers in today's Russia, despite the fact that his major works were written in emigration. The brilliantly written stories in this, his first collection in English, focus on a world that has changed little even during this period of Russian gangster capitalism, the world of the Russian urban underclass.

Miloslavsky's remarkable combination of the profane slang of the young street toughs fused with intensely compact literary language is used to show the horror and ugliness, but also the comedy and beauty of his heroes, whose lives have seldom been recorded with this much understanding, respect, and compassion.

These are seemingly unredeemable characters, petty criminals, prostitutes, alcoholics, and hooligans, but there is a code they live and die by, and the author's aim is to make us see and understand them without judgement.