Book notes: Russia revisited

This summer, my daughter and I are going to Russia for the St. Petersburg Literary Seminar, so I’m hoping to reread some of the Russians, especially the following:

Nikolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector. I just reread Dead Souls, and I think there’s some connection between the kind of satire Gogol does on Russia and the kind I’d like to do on America—he’s fierce and loving at the same time, with lots of the physical world present.

Viktor Pelevin. A very edgy and funny younger Russian novelist, and a Buddhist. I want to reread Omon Ra and catch up on his more recent work.

Daniil Kharms. Famous for doing public readings on top of a large cabinet, something I aspire to. He wrote very strange little prose poems that are anti-literary, anti-story—they seem very brave and insane to me. Also something I aspire to.

Finally, I want to read as much Chekhov as I can, especially the novella My Life, which I’ve been hearing about for years but have never read—I’ve kind of been saving it up. And now, I feel, is the time.—George Saunders, author of In Persuasion Nation ($24, Riverhead).