The novel opens with an event from Séverine Sérizy's childhood, in which a mechanic touches the eight-year-old on her way from her bedroom to her mother's. The story then follows Séverine as a young, beautiful housewife. It is difficult for her to fulfill her sexual affinity for masochistic desires with her husband, Pierre Sérizy. Although they love each other, physical intimacy is a problem, which frustrates them both. Hearing Monsieur Husson...

A collection of stories discussing the most important today women's issues.

Sergei Dovlatov's subtle, dark-edged humor and wry observations are in full force in The Suitcase, as he examines eight objects -- (the Finnish crepe socks, the Nomenklatura half boots, a decent double-breasted suit, an officer's belt, Fernand Léger's jacket, a poplin shirt, the winter hat, and the driving gloves) -- items he brought with him in his luggage upon his emigration from the USSR.

Essays and diary entries written in 1876-1880.