New Russian Writing, the Penguin Book of

I recommend this to anyone. If you think that the ex-Soviet Union was dead culturally, cut off from the wells of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness, read this; you will find in it the writings of those who did not give up, who lived and loved in awful conditions, and who withstood in dignity the trials that destiny doled out to them.If you are an afficianado or curious about Russian dissidence during the Brezhnev, Chernenko, and Andropov years (those before Perestroika), buy this book. You will be amazed at the absurdist earthy humor of these writers (especially that of Prigov). Many selections deal with the perennial human dilemnas that stem from choice (Dovlatov, Popov), conflicts between urban and rural life (Gorenshtein, Astafiev), and contradictory wordviews (Prigov).Also check out anything by Victor Erofeev, who is the compiler of this anthology (which created a big stir in the Kremlin in the early 80's).To these brave writers, we should resound in unanimous [email protected]