Sex in Russia is comprised of mostly new and a few award-winning stories that still resonate over the years. Adroitly combining accessibility and subtlety, understated wit and restrained emotion with a predilection for the slightly off-centred, the collection explores a range of human experiences locally and internationally. From a gifted student of science embarrassed by his parents, to a musician who loses his son to a different kind of music, to an old woman reluctant to leave her Chinese prison, Radu’s stories often begin with a seemingly minor detail or event and travel from there to the heart of disaffection, despair, hope, and unusual forms of recovery and understanding. Original in concept and challenging ordinary expectations, the stories maintain a firm hold on traditional narrative structures. Sex in Russia continues Radu’s venture into new territories of personal experience and emotional drama, maintaining an undercurrent of surprising, sometimes satirical humour throughout.