It may sound strange: satirical novels set in Stalin’s Soviet empire, by an Australian journalist, about Trump’s America. But Knox’s darkly hilarious books have arrived when global politics so often feel like a farce
When we think of great Russian storytellers, a few familiar names come to mind: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Chekhov. In his two most recent novels, the Australian writer Malcolm Knox nominates two more compelling contenders – men whose skill for plotting, world-building and spinning narratives achieved greater influence than most authors could dream of.
We’re talking about Joseph Stalin and his longtime sideman Lavrentiy Beria.