Publication of the novel in 1935 caused criticism leading to the author's disappearance and the presumable death by suicide.

The boy relates events of his family, school years, father's death, readings, first romance and the eruption of the Russo-Japanese War.

The author's irony and the main character's description of the provincial society in which he lives also make the novel close to Dead Souls.

[2] Dobychin was just beginning to explore the spectrum of his gifts when the publication of The Town of N in 1935 triggered his demise.

The Town of N is both a lyrical exploration of childhood myth- ...[3] This article about a Bildungsroman of the 1930s is a stub.