Murder, mafia and the scramble for money in the new Russia. A brilliantly received satire - achingly funny, deeply disturbing.

`We can prove Kennedy shot himself - as long as we're paid in advance.'... In the unfettered freedom of Russia's new-found venture-capital frenzy, Max Borodin can organize anything - if the readies are ready. That's why he's Moscow's most successful businessman. But Max's life has its downside: his wife, Tanya, nags him, his mistress, Sonya, exhausts him; and his brother Evgeny is a master at business fiascos. Then there are always the country's friendly mafia, keen to lend a helping hand with the profits of Max's Universal Manufacturing Company - producer of documents, historical and otherwise, to suit every conceivable occasion.

Let's Put the Future Behind Us is the wittiest job of fictional surgery on New Russia since its iron curtain was amputated.