The Hall of the Singing Caryatids (New Directions Pearls)

A far-out, far-fetched, and fiendishly funny story about a strange nightclub and its outrageous entertainment. After auditioning for the part as a singing geisha at a dubious bar, Lena and eleven other “lucky” girls are sent to work at a posh underground nightclub reserved exclusively for Russia’s upper-crust elite. They are to be a sideshow attraction to the rest of the club’s entertainment, and are billed as the “famous singing caryatids.” Things only get weirder from there. Secret ointments,