October 01, 2011

Contest Anyone?


Contest Anyone?

It's our anniversary, so we're celebrating with a contest!

Fifty-five years is a long time for a magazine to be bumping around this uncertain world. And while we've only been stewarding Russian Life for the past 16 years, we do take unmeasured pride in the fullness of our heritage, even those wayward years when the magazine (then known as Soviet Life) was overcome with propagandistic fervor (oh, wayward youth!)...

In any event, to celebrate our 55th anniversary, we're holding a contest. Appropriately, there will be 55 prizes, including a Kindle (pictured, right) as the Grand Prize. That means some pretty good odds of winning for everyone.

How do you enter? Simple, between October 1, 2011 and October 31, 2011:

It's that easy. What is more, if you do more than one of these things, each one gets you a new entry. So, for example, if you come on as a new subscriber and buy a gift for someone else, you will get two entries and your friend will get one!

The prizes are an amazing array of gifts that are of interest and value to Russophiles, readers and travelers. We are still compiling the final list, and will drop it in here as soon as it is complete (with photos and links!). But here's an initial taste:

  • New generation Amazon Kindle with built-in wi-fi
  • Fine Russian linens, courtesy of Russia House Collection
  • Newly published works of Russia-related non-fiction and fiction
  • Tshirts and totebags (with Russian imprints, of course!)
  • Vermont maple syrup from Morse Farm, just 5 minutes up the road from us (personally, we consider this to be the top prize!)
  • Little Pim's Wake up Smiling language learning DVD for children
  • Oxford Russian-English Picture Dictionary
  • DVDs of Russian films (with subtitles)
  • Music CDs
  • The last laminated Russia Wall Map in the known world
  • ...and much, much more!

Enter early and often! And help us spread the word through Facebook and the Twitterverse!

{The full, official rules are posted here...}

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Some of our Books

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

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Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955