Patrick deWitt meets Catch 22, when a guileless young boy gets mixed up in Stalin's inner circle.

There are certain things that Yuri Zipit knows:
1. That being official food-taster for the Great Leader of the Soviet Union requires him to drink too much vodka for a twelve-year-old.
2. That you do not have to be an Elephantologist to see that the Great Leader is dying.
3. Yuri's father is somewhere here in the Dacha.
4. It's a crime to love your family more than you love Socialism, the Party or the Republic.
5. That, because of his damaged mind, everyone thinks Yuri is a fool.
But Yuri isn't. He sits quietly through excessive state dinners and witnesses it all--betrayals, body doubles, buffoonery. He's starting to get the hang of this politics thing, but there's so much to learn. Who knew that a man could be in five places at once? That someone could break your nose as a sign of friendship? That people could be disinvented?
The Zoo is a cutting satire, told through the refreshing voice of one gutsy boy who will not give up on hope.