The Queue Signed First Edition Reference

Ochered’ (written 1983, published in Russian by Sintaksis, Paris, 1985; English: Readers International, 1988) is one of the most formally radical novels ever written — the entire text consists of dialogue overheard in a Soviet queue, with no narration, no description, and no identification of speakers beyond their words. The reader gradually constructs the queue’s social dynamics, the weather, the time of day, and the nature of what is being queued for, purely from conversational fragments.

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed English first: $50–$125
• Unsigned English first: $10–$25

A formally audacious debut that remains Sorokin’s most widely discussed work among literary scholars. The concept is brilliant and the execution is more emotionally engaging than the description suggests.