Viktor Pelevin's latest book, P5--a collection of short stories--was announced by the publisher as a novel, because short story collections don't sell. But it sounds like the publisher is going to need more tricks than that to sell this one. From the Moscow Times:
The critical consensus after the book's appearance was unfavorable to Pelevin. Some said he was moving toward Sergei Minayev (the author of several very badly written bestsellers). Some said Pelevin had become undistinguishable from his numerous imitators. Galina Yuzefovich wrote in Vedomosti that the creative spirit that had inspired the author throughout the 1990s has obviously left him.
Comments