The Black Series from Vagrius
The book series “Contemporary Russian Prose” or the “Black Series,” published by Vagrius—one of post-Soviet Russia’s most successful commercial publishers—made bestsellers out of literary prose.
Vladimir Putin's 1999 Vision for Russia
Just before assuming the presidency, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin published an essay that outlined his vision for Russia. He saw it as a post-industrial society that could successfully integrate into the new world order only with a strong central government.
Interview with Victor Pelevin
After the launch of Victor Pelevin’s hit novel “Generation P” in 1999, the author set out on a publicity tour in which he behaved as poorly as his own protagonist, Vavilen Tatarsky. And much like his protagonist, he proved that, in post-Soviet Russia, bad behavior sells.
An Online Babylon: Vavilon.ru
Vavilon, or Babylon, began as a loose group of young poets brought together by Dmitry Kuzmin in 1988. In the post-Soviet years, the group's almanac, and then website, became a driving force behind some of the most innovative poetry of the 1990s.
"Mat bez elektrichestva (Profanity without electricity)": A ska-punk-rock album by Leningrad
The second studio rock/ska album by the legendary St. Petersburg band Leningrad. With its heavy use of profanity, the album etablished Sergei Shnurov as the band's unequivocal frontman and placed Leningrad on the map as a new and influential direction in post-Soviet rock music.
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