“Autobiography of a Corpse” is the third collection of short stories by the late Russian writer Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky to be published in the U.S.

Krzhizhanovsky’s stories are surreal and often existential. A favorite of mine from an earlier collection, the wonderfully titled “Memories of the Future,” is about a man who is given a potion that, when it’s spread around his tiny studio apartment, makes the room grow. He becomes lost in the immense darkness.

Only nine of his stories were published in Russia during Krzhizhanovsky’s lifetime. His stories did not overtly challenge communism, but were subtle and subversive.

There’s a review of the new collection in today’s New York Times.