Introduces vladimir girshkin, one of the most original and unlikely heroes of recent times. The twenty-five-year-old unhappy lover to a fat dungeon mistress, affectionately nicknamed "Little failure" By his high-achievin...Introduces vladimir girshkin, one of the most original and unlikely heroes of recent times. The twenty-five-year-old unhappy lover to a fat dungeon mistress, affectionately nicknamed "Little failure" By his high-achieving mother, vladimir toils his days away as a lowly clerk at the bureaucratic emma lazarus immigrant absorption society.