''A beautiful book'' Ursula K. Le GuinThis mordantly funny and provocative tale from Soviet Russia''s leading science fiction writers is the story of astrophysicist Dmitri Malianov. As he reaches a major breakthrough, he finds himself plagued by interruptions, from a mysterious crate of vodka to a glamorous woman on his doorstep. Is the Universe trying to tell him something?''On putting down one of their books, you feel a cold breeze still lifting the hairs on the back of your neck'' The New York Times