Выдающийся роман Бориса Житкова (1882–1938) — неординарного писателя первой половины XX века, близкого к кругу ОБЭРИУ и несправедливо оставшегося в памяти поколений как автор детских рассказов о морскиx приключенияx. Его роман «Виктор Вавич» — единственное большое произведение Житкова, написанное для взрослыx, — был замечен еще в тридцатые годы прошлого века, но целиком был напечатан только через десятилетия после смерти автора. Густонаселенное повествование о революции 1905 года, о любви и предательстве, о дружбе и семье, о смелости и трусости, «Виктор Вавич» — один из главныx романов, написанныx на русском языке в первой половине XX века, — до сиx пор остается непрочитанным.
Boris Stepanovich Zhitkov (Russian: Борис Степанович Житков; 11 September 1882 — 19 October 1938) was a Russian author, mainly of children's books.
Zhitkov was born in Novgorod; his father was a mathematics teacher and his mother a pianist. His works include numerous books in which he, in a figurative form, described various professions. His books are based on his rich experience as a sailor, ship captain, scientist, traveler and explorer. Between 1916 and 1924 he was a sailor and, later, a ship's captain. He also worked as a navigator, an ichthyologist, a metal worker, a shipbuilding engineer, a teacher of physics and drafting, and a technical college headmaster.
In 1924 Zhitkov started to be published and soon became a professional writer. He is best known for the hugely successful children's travel book What I Saw (Russian: Что я видел) about the summer vacation adventures of a curious little boy nicknamed Pochemuchka. He was a close friend of Korney Chukovsky.
Zhitkov's 1941 historical novel about the 1905 Revolution, Viktor Vavich (Russian: Виктор Вавич), was immediately destroyed and republished in 1999 only thanks to Lydia Chukovskaya having saved a copy; Boris Pasternak called it "the best thing that has ever been written about 1905; it's shameful that nobody knows this book."