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.

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.

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.

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.

The album cover, plus audio excerpts, from the 1999 album Profanity without Electricity (Mat bez elektrichestva) by the band Leningrad.