It may come as a surprise that the author of the Soviet classic Bronepoezd14-69 (Armored Train 14-69) produced an experimental novel in 1929- 1931, entitled Y, whose satiric spirit, rich texture and philosophical depth suggest a close kinship with such writers as Mikhail Bulgakov and Andrei Platonov. In western criticism, Vsevolod Ivanov has been largely remembered as one of the Serapion Brothers, whose Partizanskie povesti (partisan tales) and short stories (“Dite” [“The Child“] being the best known example) about the civil war in Siberia and central Asia were written in a highly individualistic ornamental style and responded to the call for immediacy and relevance in literature.