Igor Klekh writes from the crossroads of Europe: Ukraine, influenced by the Russian literature tradition of the east and the languages and dialects of both Central Europe and his native country. As one of the brightest lights to come out of the post-perestroika literary scene, Klekh's work has been welcomed as a synthesis of the two traditions, and celebrated as some of the most breathtakingly original prose of recent years. The publication of his novella "Kallimakh's Wake (included in this collection) in 1993, and his work since, has drawn comparisons to Borges-for the blurring of boundaries between forms and styles; to Gogol's work in both Russian and Ukrainian language; to Eco's use of esoteric knowledge; and to the stylistic innovations reminiscent of Latin American magical realists. A Land the Size of Binoculars collects the five short pieces and novella that comprise his "Galician Motifs," and two more recent novellas. Throughout Klekh passes over landscapes as intimate as the terrain between fathers and sons and as broad as the Carpathian Mountains.
