An unsuccessful writer and an inveterate alcoholic, Boris Alikhanov has recently divorced his wife Tatyana, and he is running out of money. The prospect of a summer job as a tour guide at the Pushkin Hills Preserve offers him hope of...

A Russian immigrant narrates the humorous events behind the acquisiton of eight seemingly unimportant possessions which he has brought with him to the United States. von Dovlatov, Sergei