title: Billancourt Tales (New Directions Paperbook)
author: Nina Berberova
description: Nina Nikolaevena Berberova (1901-1993) was born in St. Petersburg. She left Russia after the revolution in 1922, eventually settling in Paris in 1925 with her lover Vladislav Khodasevich. She moved to the U.S. in 1950 and taught at Yale and Princeton. In France she was honored as a Chevalier of the French Order of Arts and Letters.
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  ![cover](resources/_cover_.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  # The Bill-Toppers
  
  
  * * *
  
  ### Andre Castaigne
  
  
  
  
  
    
  This page formatted 2007 Blackmask Online.  
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com  
    
  
  * CURTAIN RISES
  
  
  * CHAPTER II
  
  
  * CHAPTER III
  
  
  * CHAPTER IV
  
  
  * CHAPTER V
  
  
  * [CHAPTER VI](bilto_split_1.html#1_0_7)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER VII](bilto_split_1.html#1_0_8)
  
  
  * [PLAYING 'EM IN](bilto_split_1.html#1_0_9)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER II](bilto_split_1.html#1_0_10)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER III](bilto_split_1.html#1_0_11)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER IV](bilto_split_1.html#1_0_12)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER V](bilto_split_2.html#1_0_13)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER VI](bilto_split_2.html#1_0_14)
  
  
  * [INTERMEZZO](bilto_split_2.html#1_0_15)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER II](bilto_split_2.html#1_0_16)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER III](bilto_split_2.html#1_0_17)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER IV](bilto_split_2.html#1_0_18)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER V](bilto_split_2.html#1_0_19)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER VI](bilto_split_3.html#1_0_20)
  
  
  * [AMONG THE STARS](bilto_split_3.html#1_0_21)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER II](bilto_split_3.html#1_0_22)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER III](bilto_sp