Dictionary of the Khazars (Male Edition) by Milorad Pavic

A national bestseller, Dictionary of the Khazars was cited by The New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of the year. Written in two versions, male and female (both available in Vintage International), which are identical save for seventeen crucial lines, Dictionary is the imaginary book of knowledge of the Khazars, a people who flourished somewhere beyond Transylvania between the seventh and ninth centuries. Eschewing conventional narrative and plot, this lexicon novel combines the dictionaries of the world's three major religions with entries that leap between past and future, featuring three unruly wise men, a book printed in poison ink, suicide by mirrors, a chimerical princess, a sect of priests who can infiltrate one's dreams, romances between the living and the dead, and much more. Publishers Weekly Available in slightly differing ``male'' and ``female'' editions, the narrative purports to be the historical record of the Khazars, a fictional Indo-European tribe that vanished in the 10th century. ``Pavic is a 20th-century Scheherazade,'' acknowledged PW . ``Readers who are intrigued by literary conundrums will enjoy entering this magical world with Pavic as their guide.'' (Oct.) Written in two versions, male and female, which are identical save for seventeen crucial lines, this is the imaginary book of knowledge of the Khazars, a people who flourished somewhere beyond Transylvania between the seventh and ninth centuries. This lexicon novel combines the dictionaries of the world's three major religions with entries that leap between past and future, featuring three unruly wise men, a book printed in poison ink, suicide by mirrors, a chimerical princess, a sect of priests who can infiltrate one's dreams, romances between the living and the dead, and much more