This major work is important in several respects. Written partly in Moscow and partly in Munich, it marks a transitional phase in Zinoviev’s career, in scope, breadth of vision and treatment of its subject matter. It is in advance of The Yawning Heights. Here, for the first time, Zinoviev treats in depth the plight of the Individual who is not accepted by the Collective. The theme of the Individual versus the Collective is of intrinsic importance in the Soviet context, yet Zinoviev is at pains to develop it in a rather unorthodox way. The hero of the book, a junior research fellow who is so insignificant that he does not have a name and is known merely by the initials of his title (JRF), is not a dissident. He wishes to be accepted as a member of his Collective, but he is temperamentally inadequate for the part. His type of intelligence, his unorthodox way of looking at the world, make it impossible for him to fit in. He is a kind of Soviet Garp and, in the end, he is removed from society rather as one might remove a thorn from one’s flesh.

Published in Russian in the West before The Reality of Communism, this work occupies a central place in Zinoviev’s oeuvre, both chronologically and in terms of its importance. In scope, written in his familiar style, it is an extravaganza of dialogue, internal monologue, mordant verse, pastiche, parody, dramatic sketch, adding up to a brilliant multifaceted critique of the Soviet society that Zinoviev knows, and, allegedly, loves.