reading

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

One Where the Kid Tries to Speed Up Time

Two Where the Kid Sees Himself at Twenty-Five

Three Where the Kid Discovers Wanting to Be Liked Is a Fatal Handicap

Four Where Isabeau Keeps Beating the Kid at His Own Game

Five Where the Kid Admits to Having Bitten the Bullet

Six Where Isabeau Entertains the Possibility the Kid May Be Telling the Truth

Seven Where the Kid Tries to Teach the Old Man to Play Chess

Eight Where the Kid Competes with the Pick-Up-Stick King of Gori

Nine Where Isabeau Suspects the Kid May Have Lost His Marbles

Ten Where the Kid Works Up His Nerve to Say the Unsayable

Eleven Where the Kid Decides to Swallow His Pride

Twelve Where the Kid Applies Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle to Life

BY ROBERT LITTELL

The Defection of A. J. Lewinter (1973)

Sweet Reason (1974)

The October Circle (1975)

Mother Russia (1978)

The Debriefing (1979)

The Amateur (1981)

The Sisters (1986)

The Revolutionist (1988)

The Once and Future Spy (1990)

An Agent in Place (1991)

The Visiting Professor (1994)

Walking Back the Cat (1997)

The Company (2002)

Legends (2005)

Vicious Circle (2006)

The Stalin Epigram (2009)

Young Philby (2012)

A Nasty Piece of Work (2013)

The Mayakovsky Tapes (2016)

Comrade Koba (2020)

NONFICTION

For the Future of Israel (with Shimon Peres) (1998)

Published in 2020 by The Overlook Press, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020932378

ISBN: 978-1-4197-4832-5

eISBN: 978-1-64700-003-5

Abrams books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact specialsales@abramsbooks.com or the address below.

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“Conscience, the uninvited guest . . .”

ALEKSANDR SERGEEVICH PUSHKIN

“I don’t get ulcers. I give ulcers.”

COMRADE IVANOVITCH, AKA KOBA