Savely's Days (Dni Saveliya)

Grigory Sluzhitel was born in 1983 in Moscow. He graduated from the directing department of GITIS (Sergey Zhenovach's workshop), acted at the Studio of Theatre Arts, and was the lead singer of the O'Casey band. 'The Days of Savely' is his first book; the novel was longlisted for the NOS Prize. Evgeny Vodolazkin discovered the manuscript and wrote the foreword.

'Cats in literature are not a new theme. I will not list everyone who has written about these sacred animals - from Ernst Theodor Hoffmann's Murr the Cat to Ilya Boyashov's Muri. And now Savely. We understand that people always shine through behind cats. Sluzhitel's heroes - whoever they are, cats or people - are real. Lonely and suffering, laughing and loving. Love in this novel deserves special words. It just so happens to be platonic. The highest of all loves.'
Evgeny Vodolazkin