Wings

About “Wings”

"Wings" is the first Russian novel to focus on homosexuality, written by Mikhail Kuzmin and published in 1906. The story follows Vanya Smurov, a teenager who becomes attached to his older mentor, Larion Stroop, a pederast who introduces him to art from the Renaissance, Classical, and Romantic periods. After learning that Stroop visits a gay bathhouse, Vanya retreats to the Volga countryside but is uncomfortable with rural women's attempts to seduce him. He then joins his Classics teacher on a trip to Italy. In the final part of the novel, Vanya and Stroop enjoy the beauty of Florence and Rome, while Prince Orsini teaches Vanya about hedonism.