Vanya Says, Go!

A Retelling of Mikhail Kuzmin's Wings

By: Wayne Goodman

Narrated by: Wayne Goodman

In 1906, Mikhail Kuzmin published Wings, the first book in Russian to discuss same-sex relationships in a positive light. With Vanya Says, Go!, Wayne Goodman retells the story from the perspective of the young man at the heart of the tale. The original work contained only three sections, but a fourth has been added to round out the story and provide some closure.

Kuzmin was one of the most celebrated poets of his time, the Silver Age of Russian poetry. While his poems were quite successful, his somewhat-autobiographical novel Wings was met with skepticism and criticism. Kuzmin used many constructs from poetry (characters who appear all too briefly with no second mention, plot jumps with little connecting material, long-winded orations); however, his descriptions of scenery are exquisite, and the dialogue is quirky and colorful. Vanya Says, Go! is crafted for the modern listener while keeping much of the original Russian style. It is a window into a time and place long gone. The story is narrated by the main character, who at 16 years of age is dealing with being an orphan foisted off on friends of distant relatives and attempting to acquaint himself with his sexual orientation while also discovering various religious and philosophical frameworks.

©2016 Wayne Goodman (P)2016 Wayne Goodman