Wings by Mikhail Kuzmin

A key text in the history of gay literature, Wings was published in 1906 to the scandalised reaction of contemporary society and the generations which followed. Its central theme of aestheticised sensuality has drawn comparisons with the work of contemporaries Oscar Wilde and André Gide.

The young Vanya Smurov is deeply attached to his mentor, Dr. Larion Stroop, and to the world of Renaissance art which the latter reveals to him. Initially appalled by the sudden discovery of Stroop's homosexual leanings, Vanya abandons him to pursue a “normal” heterosexual existence. In turn disgusted by ensuing encounters, he returns to Dr. Stroop and accompanies him to Italy where he begins his real education—both in the world of art, and that of hedonism.

Foreword by Paul Bailey

Translated from the Russian by Hugh Aplin

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