In a city where survival is the only true ambition, can a dream of the French Riviera offer a way out, or is it just another beautiful lie?

First published in 1995, The Dogs of Paliashvili Street (ფალიაშვილის ქუჩის ძაღლები) is a revolutionary work that captures the gritty, criminal underbelly of Tbilisi during the chaotic 1990s. With a blend of sharp irony and multi-perspective storytelling, Aka Morchiladze introduces us to Zaza, a young man navigating a lawless landscape while longing for the distant shores of Nice. In this newly independent nation, the dreams of the youth are systematically crushed by the brutal reality of the streets. As the characters grapple with the inevitability of their situation, Morchiladze delivers one of the most iconic lines in Georgian literature: "Whoever survives this year, let's take a picture next year and call it 'Georgia'." This novel remains a definitive, visceral portrait of a nation’s most difficult struggle for identity and existence.