#### Reader Reviews
"I always thought columns should be timely responses to events, original perspectives, bold judgments. But you need to read Vodenikov's columns multiple times to grasp what they're about. Then I realized: Vodenikov doesn't write 'about events'—events are his personal experiences, epiphanies, impressions… Once you get that, his writing becomes fascinating—if only because no one else writes this way."
Vladislav Tolstov

"Dmitry Vodenikov isn't Dostoevsky. He's not focused on the darkness within us, but the darkness outside. Nor is he Yanagihara—he won't recreate The Silence of the Lambs scenes to stir your emotions. His tools are far more delicate and sharp."
Olga Boguslavskaya

"Most people wouldn't dare revise poems by Russian poets who're nearly sainted. But Vodenikov has a unique bond with them: he talks about them like family, loves them deeply, so he sees both their triumphs and flaws better than anyone."
Yulia Yuzefovich

★ It tells Bunin's story in reverse: starting from his death, tracing back through old age, exile, revolution, and ending with an infant's cry. This format draws you closer to the Nobel Prize-winning writer, then leaves you with a sudden farewell.
★ The author is an award-winning poet and literary scholar. He converses with Bunin like two creators—using Bunin's words and loved ones' memories to unpack his inner world, relationships, and the pain of exile.
★ It's not just Bunin's life: it weaves in voices from the early 20th-century literary circle. Poetic metaphors and subtle observations make this biography read like prose, and a musical score of its era.

- This is a new title in the "Lives of Famous People" series.
- It offers an unconventional take on the fate of Nobel Prize-winning literary giant Ivan Bunin. His life is narrated in reverse—from death back to birth.
- The book reveals Bunin's inner world, worldview, his friendships and feuds with contemporaries, and his struggles in exile.
- Dmitry Vodenikov is a writer, poet, and literary scholar, author of works like Dreams of Chuna, People Who Appeared in Dreams, and The Immortal Dragonfly.

Dmitry Vodenikov is a poet and prose writer, author of poetry and prose works including Dreams of Chuna, People Who Appeared in Dreams, and The Immortal Dragonfly.

"…One cold winter morning, I decided to start with Parisian cold: when the first clod of earth fell on Bunin's coffin, that November cemetery felt unexpectedly Russian-cold. Then I'll rewind everything to the start. 'Life in reverse'—through old age, illness, global fame, exile, upheaval, revolution, his third love, second love, first love, all the way to the source.

When the newborn baby cries, the book ends.
Then we'll start all over again."

Dmitry Vodenikov

#### About the Book
5 Reasons to Buy This Book
Reverse narrative format: Through old age, illness, and fame, we draw closer to the writer, then part with him at an infant's first cry.
Ivan Bunin: Life in Reverse—a fresh, profound 21st-century perspective on Ivan Alekseevich Bunin's life.
An intensely honest dialogue between two poets and prose writers: Only one speaks aloud; the other's words and loved ones' memories speak for him.
The true music of the 20th century: Voices of early 20th-century literary icons ring out in harmony and dissonance through the pages.
Poetry in prose: Unexpected comparisons, rare metaphors, and vivid literary associations—perfect accompaniment to the story of a famous writer's life.

#### Excerpts from the Book
"Maybe Bunin is the most 'double-sighted' creature in Russian literature? There are fish that breathe with two organs. Bunin is the double-sighted Tiktaalik of Russian prose. He sees absurdity, the irrational order of life that social upheaval would later amplify—an order not everyone could recover from."
"Five hours of talking isn't about needing to converse with someone. It requires an inner mechanism, even unconscious. We always talk too much with the people we sleep with; we should sleep in silence."
"We don't write about ourselves—it's not about us; we're no longer that interesting. We care about the voice. More precisely, we need the voice to pass through us—it knows more than we do; we're just receivers."
"Bunin once noted Tolstoy's line in his diary: 'I physically feel people.' Then he added: 'I physically feel everything. I'm a true artistic nature. I perceive the world through smells, colors, light, wind, wine, food—how sharp, my God, how sharp, even painful!'
That's why it hurts: it comes, then it's taken away. 'Who are you?' you ask. But we already know the answer. Tolstoy heard that name clearly in his Arzamas terror. That voice will never be forgotten."
"But we need words to trick life—to pull death's needle, shards of glass from it; to make life defeat itself, defeat the death lurking within. To drive out the snake. Otherwise, what's the point of all this?"
"When young, he tried to follow Gogol's advice: remember everything, write it down. But nothing worthwhile came of it. 'My mind works fast; what I remember stays. But if it doesn't enter my heart, my soul will never accept it—no matter what.'"

Dmitry Borisovich Vodenikov

Dmitry Vodenikov is a poet, prose writer, and radio/TV host. In 2007, he was named "King of Poets" at the "Territory" International Modern Art Festival. In 2019, he was nominated for the "Book of the Year" award in the "Poetry of the Year" category; in 2023, he won the Grand Prize of the "Poet of the Year" National Literary Award.
He graduated from the Philology Department of Moscow State Pedagogical University. He has worked as a teacher and lecturer at Tatyana Tolstaya and Maria Golovanivskaya's "Good Text" Writing School, the "Writing on the Roof" School (affiliated with Voprosy Literatury magazine), Zakhar Prilepin's Writing Workshop, and the "Filatov Fest" Young Poetry Workshop.
He is the author of several poetry collections, including Wormwood (1996), How to Live to Be Loved (2001), Men Also Fake Orgasms (2002), and Draft (2006); and prose collections: Coat and Dog (2016), Vodenikov in Prose (2018), People Who Appeared in Dreams (2021), and Parentheses (2023).