New to St Petersburg, young, naive Vanya Smurov finds a mentor in the enigmatic and intellectual Larion Stroop, who initiates him into a fascinating sphere of art and beauty. As Vanya is drawn into Stroop's world of aesthetic sensuality, he also becomes aware that Stroop is a frequenter of bathhouses: a homosexual. Disturbed by this revelation, Vanya abandons Stroop and moves to the Volga countryside in search of a more traditional existence. Yet he soon finds that the alternatives offered...

Repleto de sutilezas, com uma narrativa veloz e feita de cenas curtas e sem subterfúgios, Asas é considerado o primeiro romance de coming-out do mundoFranco e afirmativo, Asas foi o primeiro romance russo a tratar abertamente da homossexualidade e tornou-se um dos textos-chave da história da literatura queer. A obra foi publicada em 1906 e obteve notoriedade imediata – enquanto os críticos conservadores rejeitavam sua ousadia, gr...

In 1906, Mikhail Kuzmin published "Wings," the first book in Russian to discuss same-sex relationships in a positive light. With "Vanya Says, 'Go!,'" Wayne Goodman retells the story from the perspective of the young man at the heart of the tale. The original work contained only three sections, but a fourth has been added to round out the story and provide some closure.Kuzmin was one of the most celebrated poets of his time, the Silver Age of Russian Poetry. While his poems were qui...

In 1906, Mikhail Kuzmin published "Wings," the first book in Russian to discuss same-sex relationships in a positive light. With "Vanya Says, ‘Go!,’" Wayne Goodman retells the story from the perspective of the young man at the heart of the tale. The original work contained only three sections, but a fourth has been added to round out the story and provide some closure.Kuzmin was one of the most celebrated poets of his time, the Silver Age of Russian Poetry. While his poems were qui...