The General and His Family: A Historical Novel (General i Yego Semya)

Timur Kibirov is a poet and writer, the author of over twenty books of poetry, and the winner of numerous national and international awards, including the 2008 Poet Prize. His new book, 'The General and His Family,' which the author calls a 'historical novel,' is a family saga set in the late USSR. Kibirov approaches a set of timeless themes (generational conflict, the problem of emigration, the search for purpose) with irony and a patchwork of quotations that defined the consciousness of late Soviet people. The book's experience and attention to detail elevate 'The General and His Family' to the realm of the great Russian novel, simultaneously sincere and sarcastic.