January 01, 2021

That's Mr. Cat to You


That's Mr. Cat to You
This cat was saved at the last moment. Screen shot from TACC via Twitter

A Russian cat featured in a viral video has gotten paw up in life: rescued from a trash compactor, it was awarded a government position.

The cat in question, still unnamed, was rescued by Mikhail Tukash as he worked at a trash sorting facility in Ulyanovsk. Tukash’s main task is to open bags and look for metal; as he told local television, “The cat wasn’t meowing and the bag wasn’t moving… I needed to cut the bag to screen it for metals. I was just doing my job.” Tukash has since been recognized by the Ulyanovsk region’s Environmental Affairs Ministry, which said the cat was “on the brink of death.” Veterinarians have examined the cat and found him healthy and well, and determined that he is most likely a domestic cat.

The ministry named the cat Honorary Deputy in Charge of Wildlife Protection. A contest is now underway to give the cat a name. According to Minister Gulnara Rakhmatulina, “We’re taking the cat to our ministry and all employees will take responsibility for it.”

Meow.

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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.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

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.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

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.

The Moscow Eccentric
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.

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