March 01, 2021 Sputnik V: First Place or Long Shot? The Russia vaccine seems top-notch, but low public trust and a botched rollout remain formidable barriers to returning to normalcy.
November 01, 2019 The Gunmaker The whole world knows the word “Kalashnikov.” What kind of a man was Mikhail Kalashnikov? And can we ever separate the man from the legends that surround him and his AK-47?
March 01, 2021 Can't Bear to Watch A nurse injects a performer in a bear costume with Russia’s Gam- COVID-Vac vaccine (under the brand name of Sputnik V) at a temporary COVID-19 vaccination site in Moscow’s Shchyolkovsky shopping centre.
May 05, 2021 Sputnik V is Quite Alright “The fact of the matter is, 80 or 85% of Serbians want the Russian vaccine Sputnik V." – Down with the naysayers! On May 4, Russian news outlet Izvestiya published a written interview with the Serbian Ambassador Miroslav Lazanski where he explained that, while Serbians choose themselves which vaccine they will receive, the majority would prefer Sputnik V. Remember when The world poo-poo’d the Russian decision to vaccinate without full clinical trials? It looks like not everyone’s complaining these days…
April 08, 2021 Play-Doh, Vaccinated Pets, and Irish Whiskey In this week's Odder News: the Play-Doh version of Moscow, the Russian version of Irish whiskey, and the Red Bull version of ice skating.
March 29, 2021 Who's Not Done With Quarantine? Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs was caught with his mask up while on a work trip to China.
February 11, 2021 Sputnik Rap, Dolls, and Animal Skulls In this week's Odder News, how one man spent his pandemic, prisoners teach us how to get out of the pandemic, and a new video game connects you to the Russian police.
September 17, 2020 Odder News for Radical Dudes This week, we're abandoning all pretense of mature adulthood. We've got cool shotguns, exploding caves, and a teacher who just couldn't wait. Gosh, mom, get out of my room!
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.
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
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.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Moscow Eccentric Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Chekhov Bilingual Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided.
Bears in the Caviar Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
A Taste of Russia The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Driving Down Russia's Spine The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors 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.
