---

Berlioz, Mikhail Alexandrovich (aka Misha)

Berlioz is the Chairman of the Board of MASSOLIT, the literary association roughly based on the Soviet Writers' Union. He is middle-aged, paunchy, a typical representative of the intelligent hack, a good follower and inculcator of the official line.

Berlioz shares his last name with Hector Berlioz, the French composer of the Symphonie Fantastique and the Damnation of Faust. Several names in the novel are connected to music.