December 13, 2018

Sex, Drugs, and Rockin' Rectors


Sex, Drugs, and Rockin' Rectors
Stories of Russia

1.If you are going to read one thing today, check out The Moscow Times’ new project, “Mothers and Daughters.” The newspaper interviewed three generations of women from different families, and the result is entrancing. The stories are the stories of individuals told in the first person, but they’re also so much more than that. “Mothers and Daughters” is the story of women in Russia, and also the story of Russia itself, across family and class and time and space.

2. Breaking Bad isn’t pure fiction: a couple of Russian science teachers took the show to heart and became entrepreneurs, Walter White-style. Two former science teachers from St. Petersburg were charged with preparing and dealing amphetamine. Apparently, the chemistry and physics teachers used their specialized knowledge to make and sell drugs. No word on whether the act was actually inspired by the show Breaking Bad.

3. Asceticism isn’t for everyone, even when it comes to priests. One Russian Orthodox priest is being investigated for his luxe life as expressed via Instagram photos. Vyacheslav Baskakov has made the news by posting photos of himself with Louis Vuitton bags, Gucci shoes, and all sorts of other branded items. In an apology, the priest fessed up to wanting to add a bit of flair to what is otherwise a pretty square wardrobe.

Luxe priest

Photo: The Moscow Times

In Odder News:

Putin Stasi

Photo: BSTU

  • A blast from the past: an ID card from Vladimir Putin’s life as a spy in Germany appeared, taking everyone down memory lane

  • That’s a rap! A Russian television host decided to prove his regard for free speech and free music by hosting a rap festival on a nude beach next year

  • Drug parties and unprotected sex pose significant health risks to… the elderly? As always, Russia is full of surprises.

Quote of the Week:

“A clergyman cannot be a priest in the church in the morning and then be whoever he wants after lunchtime.”

— A stern rebuke of Vyacheslav Baskakov from Alexander Volkov, a spokesman for Patriarch Kirill

~Thanks to David Edwards for the story contributions!~

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Woe From Wit (bilingual)

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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
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.
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Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
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Okudzhava Bilingual

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Jews in Service to the Tsar

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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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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.

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