Alexander Dolinin: One name, two people

Alexander Dolinin, author of Against Destiny

(print ISBN 9781601641731, Adobe ebook ISBN 9781601643261, Kindle ISBN 9781601643278, SonyISBN 9781601643285)

Some clarification has to be made. There appears on the Web one name “Alexander Dolinin”, but it refers to two different persons. One is myself (Alexander Dolinin, author of Against Destiny, published by Kunati), a beginner in the world of fiction. The other is a well-known literary critic, author of numerous books on Russian and English literature, a professor of Slavistics in an American university. The coincidence of names though is not quite coincidental. We happen to be biological cousins. Actually we even met once (not that I remember the event) - he was already in university, I was still in diapers. Cousinship explains the commonality of surnames. As for the given names, he was already “Alexander” when I was born. But my maternal grandfather wanted me, his first male grandchild, to be named after his brother who died during World War II. Alexander (the First) was consulted, and he did not express any objections. Me, I was even never asked. History plays tricks sometimes.