'The novel reaches a powerful denouement . . . An ambitious debut which, like the classics Martin reads, chronicles an individual's struggle to lead a meaningful life'

– Max Liu, Independent on Sunday

'Elegant and dramatic - my favourite kind of company. Back to Moscow is a book to get lost in, like a city. A rich and deeply charming debut'

– Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals

'Erades savours the sweetness and cruelty of conquest with a candour that rivals that of Milan Kundera. And as Martin's luck falters, Erades tumbles his hero into a sentimental education with a slyness worthy of Chekhov'

– Caleb Crain, author of Necessary Errors

'Erades has written the rare novel whose last paragraphs offer up a genuine epiphany, wholly earned and wholly unexpected. With its final gesture, the story reveals its true shape. It's an act of magic, one I can't stop thinking about'

– Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Illumination

'One of the book’s strongest suits is its snapshot of Moscow as it descends into the Putin-era free-for-all. Erades shows how the rise of the oligarchs ... supplants the equally dark Soviet past, bringing economic chaos and moral uncertainty ... Erades makes this kind of contemplative fiction look easy'

– Jude Cook, Litro

'A lively and engaging work. Erades develops Martin from being careless with his relationships to finally appreciating a stable one . . . The tone and feel of much of this recalls . . . Henry Miller's novels Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn'

– Sydney Morning Herald

'With hints of Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, notes of Gary Shteyngart, and a shadow of Masha Gessen, Erades’s first novel is part frothy concoction and part deadly hemlock. As confident as a reality TV show, the story begs to read in one sitting'

– Library Journal

'A coming-of-age novel set in Moscow, Erades' debut plays with tropes of student life, literary devotion, and travel. . . . Erades' structure mimics the movement of Martin through the city, through his life - always yearning yet not always heading in the right direction'

– Kirkus Reviews

'Russia’s capital is the most dynamic character in Erades’s boozy bildungsroman . . . readers will appreciate the texture and detail Erades gives to Moscow'

– Publishers Weekly

'[A] cleverly satisfying first novel . . . Back to Moscow is quite an imaginative trip'

– Charles Larson, CounterPunch