Foolsburg: The History of a Town

The award-winning translators bring us a new translation of an 1870 comic novel by Russia’s greatest satirist–whose mockery of Russian autocracy is newly relevant in the age of Putin.

A major classic in Russia since its publication, Foolsburg is the farcical chronicle of a fictional town and its hapless inhabitants as they passively endure the violence and lunacy of their rulers. The succession of brutal mayors of the town include such surreal extremes as a man with a music box instead of a brain and one so tall that he snaps in half during a windstorm. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin marries biting satire reminiscent of Jonathan Swift with the fantastical absurdity of Nikolai Gogol, imbued throughout with his own brand of playful wordplay. The award-winning translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have produced the first translation of this work into English that successfully captures its zany humor and enduring relevance.

Author: Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 08/13/2024
Pages: 304
Weight: 0.5lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780593687314
Language: English