November 08, 2018

Our Untold Stories


Our Untold Stories

Ever wonder what we don’t publish? Well, here it is. The scraps on our cutting room floor, and last week’s fourth-best story – all collected in one wonderfully semi-interesting place. So, while these things didn’t happen last week, they are still keepers that it was a shame not to share.

One unfortunate Russian child got a 2 (equivalent to an American “D”) for not watching a movie for homework. The class? Physical education. The movie? Going Vertical, a movie about the 1972 Soviet basketball team prevailing over the US in the Olympics (to be fair, it’s an inspiring cinematic experience). Does that seem unfair to you? Luckily, some parents thought so as well, and the kid’s bad mark was removed.

Calling it art forgives everything… one Russian city councilman’s wife had the brilliant idea of making a dance video in the middle of a busy street. Her twerking was not only a bit out of place, but it literally stopped traffic (including three ambulances!). Dance responsibly, people!

After funding for a local homeless shelter fell through, a businessman in Khabarovsk had the great idea of donating his used buses to serve as temporary shelters. The buses have a bathroom, beds, and heating.

Bus shelters

Photo: Moscva News Agency

What do priests bless in Russia? Well really, the question should be what don’t priests bless in Russia? Because what they do bless includes everything from a Soyuz rocket to cats to metro cars.

After a fan brought a carpet to a FC Rostov soccer game, the natural thing occurred: the team released a limited edition carpet-themed jersey. What’s the pile? Sorry, can’t help you. But it sure does tie the room together...

Carpet jerseys

Photo: FC Rostov

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Some of Our Books

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Steppe / Степь

Steppe / Степь

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
A Taste of Russia

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.
The Samovar Murders

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.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

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