The Lexicon of Intimate Cities

«The Lexicon of Intimate Cities» is one of Yuriy Andrukhovych's most ambitious works. This tireless traveler of Ukraine, Europe, and America shares 111 stories about 111 cities where he was fortunate enough to experience happy and not-so-happy, but always deeply personal, adventures. The texts, arranged alphabetically by geographical name, range from essays and short stories to prose poems, together creating an autobiographical atlas of the writer's world.
Each of these "lexicon" adventures is clearly inscribed not only in space but also in time, allowing the reader to take 111 private-historical leaps — from the mid-1960s to the present day. You should not expect objective descriptions of Kyiv or New York from this highly subjective "manual of geopoetics and cosmopolitics." However, in it, you will find much more important artistic elements: the atmosphere, mood, images, smells, and tastes of beloved cities and places, etched in the author's memory. As well as fleeting observations, deep reflections, lyricism, sadness, irony, and sarcasm — everything that makes our communication with the world truly intimate.