Vladimir Nikolaevich Voinovich has become one of the most significant writers of comic fiction in Russia in the second half of the twentieth century and beyond. The Soviet Writers' Union, doling out various hats to authors according to rank, insults an adventure-story writer with a hat of the cheapest fur. ``Voinovich's deadpan humor and impeccable timing make his latest satirical look at the Soviet Union particularly engaging; the novel also somberly points out the discriminations to which Jewish intellectuals are still subjected,'' said PW. In this satire of Soviet life, an insecure but much-published novelist, Yefim Rakhlin, learns that the Writers' Union is giving fur hats to its members based on their importance, and that he rates only fluffy tomcat.
