June 21, 2018

Russia Makes Hay in Moscow and Surmounts in St. Petersburg


Russia Makes Hay in Moscow and Surmounts in St. Petersburg
World Cup Double Whammy

1. Russian fans around the world just died and went to heaven. Against the naysayers and the disbelievers (among which you may count this shamefaced newsletter), Russia not only won its first World Cup match against Saudi Arabia with a stunning 5-0 final score, but continued to impress with a 3-1 victory against Egypt. This virtually ensures that Russia will play in the Round of 16, but before that they will play their final group of four game against Uruguay on Monday, June 25. Who could have predicted this result, if not your favorite newsletter? Well, try one of eleven oracles that Russia boasts, from the famous Achilles the Cat (famous to us, at least) to a Beluga whale named Puziryok. Maybe TWERF can’t correctly predict World Cup outcomes, but surely at least one of our animal friends can.

2. American mixed martial artist Jeff Monson is running for City Council in Krasnogorsk, Russia (no eye-catching hook necessary for this story). Or rather, Russian-American mixed martial artist, as Monson recently received his Russian citizenship. The fighter just won the United Russia primary, making him a virtual shoo-in for the general election, which is scheduled for September. Check out this interview with Monson to learn what his platform is (more opportunities for kids), how much Russian Monson knows (not much), and if he plans to win (yes).

Photo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa5165ecE1E

3. Zabivaka, the 2018 World Cup mascot, will light up your night and even your skyline, if you happen to live in Kaliningrad. For those of you not as World Cup crazy as TWERF, Zabivaka is a friendly and energetic wolf who loves to play soccer. In Kaliningrad, a bright Zabivaka stands 37 meters tall, glows in the dark, and is a stylized part of a power line. Constructing this cheery structure was no mean feat: it consists of 2,000 small parts and 3,500 nuts and bolts!

In odder news:

Photo: branconegra

  • Flying saucer spotted: a rocket exhaust trail looks suspiciously like E.T.’s new ride

  • It happens to everybody: a taxi driver blames his crash in Moscow on mixing up the pedals

  • Setting sail for the World Cup, literally: one Brit sailed to Volgograd from Europe for the World Cup

Quote of the Week:

“Maybe [the UFO is] coming to watch the World Cup. Why not? We welcome all guests.”

— The Russian Embassy in Britain on the possible UFO sighting

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

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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.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
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.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Murder and the Muse

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.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 

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