stalin
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #162: Emma Winsor Wood and C. Dylan Bassett
“The miracle, in Kharms, is a kind of rupture within the physical structure of the world.”
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What to Read When Your Country Is Invaded by Russians
Three books to read while the Russians are knocking on our nation’s door.
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The Rumpus Interview with Mark Leyner
Mark Leyner discusses his new novel, Gone with the Mind, about a failed novelist, Mark Leyner, who gives a reading to his mom in an almost-deserted food court.
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Eat Your Peas
Having some novelist (or poet or playwright) assert an individual consciousness—in and of itself— is a profoundly threatening act if you’re a dictator.
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Resurrecting a Soviet Satire
The New York Times takes a look at Dying For It, a new adaption of The Suicide, a 1928 satirical play written (but never performed) under Stalinism.
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Russian Winter
In this “magnificent” first novel, an aging ballerina looks back on life, betrayal, and loss in the former Soviet Union.
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Why Writers Should Not Run for Office
In this article about the political fortunes of writer, country singer and gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, The Guardian reminds us that if history is any indication, writers should be wary of entering politics. “Consider the case of George Bernard Shaw,…
