Russian Life: Apr/May 1999

14: Weathering the Storm
Moscow's hotels are surviving, even prospering, in the wake of the 1998 financial collapse.
Practical Traveler

17: 30 Years Under the White Sun Mikhail Ivanov
Russians' favorite movie, White Sun of the Desert, turns 30 this month. But for the movie's director, Vladimir Motyl, it has not been three decades of glamour and fame.
Features

18: Lights, camera ... Mikhail Ivanov
Lights, camera ... a plethora of filmographic idioms and phrases for your lexicon.
Survival Russian

24: Close Quarters: The Rise & Fall of the Kommunalka John Varoli
Seven percent of Russians live in communal apartments, kommunalki. By all indications, this dinosaur from the communist era will not be extinct anytime soon.
Features

26: Twice-baked sturgeon Sudar Restaurant
This tasty dish wraps a succulent sturgeon in a puff pastry for a dish sure to amaze.
Cuisine

48: The Poet of Laughter Mikhail Ivanov
Russian Life visits with a leading expert on Nikolai Gogol, to consider the writer's legacy and influence.
Interview

50: A Chichikov For Our Times Mikhail Ivanov
A review of Mark Zakharov's new play, Mystification, based loosely on Gogol's Dead Souls.
Features

54: A Birthday Gift John Varoli
A short piece on the centennial birthday celebration for Nabokov to be held in his childhood home in downtown St. Petersburg.
Features

54: Nabokov on Gogol
Comparing the two authors, who stand as literary bookends for the 20th century.
Features

56: Rostov Veliky William C. Brumfield
A jewel in the Golden Ring, Rostov Veliky remains little touched by the tumultuous tides of this century's history.
:: Illustrations/Images by William C. Brumfield
Travel