Little Foxes Took Up Matches by Katya Kazbek
A Vogue, Debutiful, and Secular Times Best Book of 2022
A NYLON, Chicago Review of Books, and Kirkus Best Book of the Month
A Rumpus Most Beautiful Book of 2022
“Unflinching, yet achingly humorous. . . . proving we can become the gods and goddesses this world truly needs.” ―Paul Beatty
An arresting coming of age, an exploration of gender, a modern folktale, a powerful portrait of a family―Katya Kazbek breaks out as a new voice to watch.
- Sale Date
- ISBN
- 9781953534088
- Page Count
- 350
- Language
- English
- Imprint
- Tin House
Meet the Author
Katya Kazbek
A Vogue, Debutiful, and Secular Times Best Book of 2022
A NYLON, Chicago Review of Books, and Kirkus Best Book of the Month
A Rumpus Most Beautiful Book of 2022
“Unflinching, yet achingly humorous. . . . proving we can become the gods and goddesses this world truly needs.” ―Paul Beatty
An arresting coming of age, an exploration of gender, a modern folktale, a powerful portrait of a family―Katya Kazbek breaks out as a new voice to watch.
When Mitya was two years old, he swallowed his grandmother’s sewing needle. For his family, it marks the beginning of the end, the promise of certain death. For Mitya, it is a small, metal treasure that guides him from within. As he grows, his life mirrors the uncertain future of his country, which is attempting to rebuild itself after the collapse of the Soviet Union, torn between its past and the promise of modern freedom. Mitya finds himself facing a different sort of ambiguity: is he a boy, as everyone keeps telling him, or is he not quite a boy, as he often feels?
After suffering horrific abuse from his cousin Vovka who has returned broken from war, Mitya embarks on a journey across underground Moscow to find something better, a place to belong. His experiences are interlaced with a retelling of a foundational Russian fairytale, Koschei the Deathless, offering an element of fantasy to the brutal realities of Mitya’s everyday life.
Told with deep empathy, humor, and a bit of surreality, Little Foxes Took Up Matches is a revelation about the life of one community in a country of turmoil and upheaval, glimpsed through the eyes of a precocious and empathetic child, whose heart and mind understand that there are often more than two choices. An arresting coming of age, an exploration of gender, a modern folktale, a comedy about family, Katya Kazbek breaks out as a new voice to watch.
A NYLON, Chicago Review of Books, and Kirkus Best Book of the Month
A Rumpus Most Beautiful Book of 2022
“Unflinching, yet achingly humorous. . . . proving we can become the gods and goddesses this world truly needs.” ―Paul Beatty
An arresting coming of age, an exploration of gender, a modern folktale, a powerful portrait of a family―Katya Kazbek breaks out as a new voice to watch.
When Mitya was two years old, he swallowed his grandmother’s sewing needle. For his family, it marks the beginning of the end, the promise of certain death. For Mitya, it is a small, metal treasure that guides him from within. As he grows, his life mirrors the uncertain future of his country, which is attempting to rebuild itself after the collapse of the Soviet Union, torn between its past and the promise of modern freedom. Mitya finds himself facing a different sort of ambiguity: is he a boy, as everyone keeps telling him, or is he not quite a boy, as he often feels?
After suffering horrific abuse from his cousin Vovka who has returned broken from war, Mitya embarks on a journey across underground Moscow to find something better, a place to belong. His experiences are interlaced with a retelling of a foundational Russian fairytale, Koschei the Deathless, offering an element of fantasy to the brutal realities of Mitya’s everyday life.
Told with deep empathy, humor, and a bit of surreality, Little Foxes Took Up Matches is a revelation about the life of one community in a country of turmoil and upheaval, glimpsed through the eyes of a precocious and empathetic child, whose heart and mind understand that there are often more than two choices. An arresting coming of age, an exploration of gender, a modern folktale, a comedy about family, Katya Kazbek breaks out as a new voice to watch.
Praise for Little Foxes Took Up Matches
-
“Moving.”
The New York Times Book Review -
“A queer coming-of-age narrative in every sense of the word, Kazbek’s novel is twisty, tragic, and deeply charming—an endearing exploration of the stories we tell and the people we find in order to live.”
VOGUE -
“A coming of age story that is at times chilling and in equal moments heartfelt, and at the center of it, Mitya is simply trying to find his own way. Kazbek writes with a kind of urgency that makes her novel a true standout. Every page sparks with energy in this ambitious and original debut.”
BuzzFeed
About the Imprint
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