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!
November 26, 2013 Moscow and Muscovites Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. Culture History Nonfiction
February 01, 2010 Fish This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration. Literature Fiction
January 09, 2017 Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution. History War Nonfiction
Okudzhava Bilingual Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. Bilingual Books Fiction Language Learning
December 01, 2016 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. Fiction
November 01, 2010 Frogs Who Begged... This edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina. Culture Literature Bilingual Books Fiction
July 01, 2015 The Latchkey Murders Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow... Literature Fiction
September 20, 2025 How Russia Got That Way A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends. Nonfiction
November 01, 2012 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. Nonfiction
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. Fiction
March 05, 2018 Resilience: Life Stories of Centenarians Born in the Year of Revolution Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history. Nonfiction
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. Literature Fiction
