{"product_id":"sentimental-tales-9780231183796","title":"Sentimental Tales","description":"Mikhail Zoshchenko's \u003ci\u003eSentimental Tales\u003c\/i\u003e are satirical portraits of small-town characters on the fringes of Soviet society in the first decade of Bolshevik rule. The tales are narrated by one Kolenkorov, who is anything but a model Soviet author: not only is he still attached to the era of the old regime, he is also, quite simply, not a very good writer. Shaped by Zoshchenko's masterful hands--he takes credit for editing the tales in a series of comic prefaces--Kolenkorov's prose is beautifully mangled, full of stylistic infelicities, overloaded flights of metaphor, tortured clich , and misused bureaucratese, in the tradition of Gogol. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYet beneath Kolenkorov's intrusive narration and sublime blathering, the stories are genuinely moving. They tell tales of unrequited love and amorous misadventures among down-on-their-luck musicians, provincial damsels, aspiring poets, and liberal aristocrats hopelessly out of place in the new Russia, against a backdrop of overcrowded apartments, scheming, and daydreaming. Zoshchenko's deadpan style and sly ventriloquy mask a biting critique of Soviet life--and perhaps life in general\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eAn original perspective on Soviet society in the 1920s and simply uproariously funny, \u003ci\u003eSentimental Tales\u003c\/i\u003e at last shows Anglophone readers why Zoshchenko is considered among the greatest humorists of the Soviet era\u003cb\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Columbia University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/31\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780231183796\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/26\/2018\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Mikhail Zoshchenko","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36635293417628,"sku":"9780231183796","price":14.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_ec5f9f7f-ae6d-48fb-b592-73e3c0d8fb7a.jpg?v=1603839133","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/sentimental-tales-9780231183796","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}