Italics Are Mine

Nina Berberova's "The Italics Are Mine" is a must-read for anyone intrigued by Russia, Russian literature, or Paris. In this substantial work, Berberova, a renowned writer who left her homeland along with many compatriots in the wake of the 1917 Revolution, chronicles the travails she encounters in poverty-stricken Russia, poverty-stricken Berlin, and poverty-stricken Paris, where she lived from 1925-1950. The work is teeming with examples of her original imagery as she describes in detail the Russian emigre community in Europe between the two world wars. Her important document is enlightening for those who are ignorant of the Russian colony in Paris.A portion of the book is devoted to discussion of the Russian literary community, the circle she knew well. These segments are controversial, as Berberova was accused of fabrication. Yet while the non-specialist in literature may tire of the constant name dropping, the interested reader will be rewarded with amusing anecdotes whose truth will not matter.