This might be my favourite Rytkheu to date, although Unna is also very special to me. It is a novel, but you can tell he is working through personal stuff: the constraints of being a writer in the USSR, your work falling out of fashion, forgotten people, racial prejudice, the way the Russian/USSR system put minorities back in their place, alcoholism, & of course, Chukotka!
I wish the minority authors he mentions were available in translation
photo of St Petersburg's Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, mentioned in the book, by Ad Meskens via Wikimedia
BTW, the book's description is not quite accurate: the MC (a Chukchi writer) does not slide into alcoholism & alienation. He kicks the habit and I got the feeling his regular returns to Chukotka gave some balance to his life.
(edited) 2mo