May 29, 2017

Countdown to Departure


Countdown to Departure

Just over two months have passed since we successfully closed the crowdfunding campaign for The Children of 1917. Nearly 300 backers supported the Kickstarter project, and, since the close, dozens more have pre-ordered copies of the book or film. Thank you, all!

In addition, we are happy to announce that Raiffeisen Bank has joined our project as a sponsor, helping us come within striking distance of the budget we need to research, write, edit and publish this book and film, and to put on exhibits in the US and Russia.

So, what have we been doing on the project these past two months?

Mainly research and preparation. Research on the history that swirled around the people we will be interviewing, and on the cities and towns where they lived.

We have also been doing lots of work to track down interview subjects, making initial contact, and sketching out an itinerary.

And, as you can see, we have set up the blog for the trip. 

We will have two long trips this summer, traveling around Russia and the realms of its former empire, interviewing our subjects and their families. The first trip will begin, appropriately, on Russia's Independence Day, June 12. The second is set for early August into September.

With our departure less than two weeks off, we are gathering up the final bits of equipment and supplies we need (Lavalier mic, check! Raincoat, check! Mosquito repellant, check! Replacement collapsing teacup, check!)

Until June!

 

Tags: travel
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Some of our Books

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Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

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This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

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Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

A Taste of Russia
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A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

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Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

The Samovar Murders
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The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

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