Borakhvostov, V. N. In the Room Smells of Melon: [Dove’s Love]: [Short Stories] (V komnate pakhnet dyuney: [Golubinaya lyubov]: [Rasskazy]), 1934. In Russian.

Борахвостов В. Н. В комнате пахнет дыней: [Голубиная любовь]: [Рассказы].
Москва : Издательство и типография Журнально-газетного объединения (Жургаз), 1934.
46 с., [2] с. объявл. Мягкая издательская обложка, уменьшенный формат (15 × 11 см). (Библиотека «Огонёк»; № 17 (788)).
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Borakhvostov, V. N. In the Room Smells of Melon: [Dove’s Love]: [Short Stories] (V komnate pakhnet dyuney: [Golubinaya lyubov]: [Rasskazy]).
Moscow : Journal and Newspaper Association Publishing House and Printing Press (Zhurgaz), 1934.
46 pp. + 2 pp. ads. Softcover, pocket format. (Ogonyok Library; No. 17 (788)).

This 1934 pocket edition is a quintessential example of the "Biblioteka Ogonyok" series, one of the most successful mass-market literary projects of the early Soviet era. Managed by the Journal and Newspaper Association (Zhurgaz) under the leadership of Mikhail Koltsov, these small, affordable booklets were designed to bring contemporary prose to the widest possible audience. This volume features the short stories of Vasily Borakhvostov (1898–1940), a writer whose career was cut short by the Stalinist repressions.
The collection, titled after the story "In the Room Smells of Melon," highlights Borakhvostov's signature style—a blend of lyrical observation and the gritty reality of the "new Soviet life." His prose often focused on the domestic and emotional shifts occurring within the working class and the provincial intelligentsia during the First and Second Five-Year Plans. The story "Dove’s Love" (Golubinaya lyubov) is noted for its delicate psychological nuance, exploring themes of human connection and vulnerability amidst the rapid industrialization and social upheaval of the 1930s.
Physically, the book reflects the aesthetic of the Zhurgaz editions: a functional, modernist typographic cover and a portable format intended for reading on trains, in factories, or during communal breaks. These booklets often included advertisements for other Soviet periodicals and literary series at the end, providing a glimpse into the vibrant publishing landscape of the mid-1930s.
Because of their fragile paper construction and enormous popularity, surviving copies of "Ogonyok Library" issues from the early 1930s are highly sought after by collectors of Soviet ephemera and avant-garde book design. This 1934 volume is a poignant artifact of a literary generation that was largely silenced by the end of the decade, preserving the voice of a writer who sought to find poetry in the scent of a melon and the fleeting moments of everyday life.