One of the delights of Russian literature, a tour de force that has been compare
d to the best of Nabokov and Bulgakov, Yuri Olesha's novella Envy brings togethe
r cutting social satire, slapstick humor, and a wild visionary streak. Andrei is
a model Soviet citizen, a swaggeringly self-satisfied mogul of the food industr
y who intends to revolutionize modern life with mass-produced sausage. Nikolai i
s a loser. Finding him drunk in the gutter, Andrei gives him a bed for the night
and a job as a gofer. Nikolai takes what he can, but that doesn't mean he's gra
teful. Griping, sulking, grovelingly abject, he despises everything Andrei belie
ves in, even if he envies him his every breath.
