Andrei GelasimovAndrei Gelasimov studied foreign languages at Yakutsk State University and directing at the Moscow Theater Institute. He became an overnight literary sensation in Russia in 2001 when his story "A Tender Age," which he published online, won critical aclaim as best debut and went on to garner the Apollon-Grigoriev and the Booker Student Prizes, as well as a nomination for the Belkin Prize. Thirst is Gelasimov's first book published in English. His novel The Gods of the Steppes, forthcoming from AmazonCrossing in 2012, won the 2009 Russian National Bestseller literary award. Read More Read Less