Bureaucratic Russia, especially the KGB's paranoid control of literature revealed from a writer's point of view. A lthough fascinating, I didn't find it easy to read. At times it felt uneasy and pedantic which interrupted the flow. However, it's still worth a try. I kept going just to find out whether Nikolin would survive or if in the end Viktor Stepanych would get his just desserts - the slime-ball!
