Sasha Sokolov is one of few writers to have been praised by Vladimir Nabokov, who called his first novel, A School for Fools, ”an enchanting, tragic, & touching book.” Sokolov`s second novel, Between Dog & Wolf, written in 1980, has long intimidated translators because of its complex puns, rhymes, & neologisms. Language rather than plot motivates the story-the novel is often compared to James Joyce`s Finnegans Wake-and time, characters, & death all prove unstable. The one constant is the Russian landscape, where the Volga is a more-crossable River Styx, especially when it freezes in winter. Sokolov`s fiction has hugely influenced contemporary Russian writers. Now, thanks to Alexander Boguslawski`s bold & superb translation, English readers can access what many consider to be his best work.