An American scholar's first-hand story of provincial life in the USSR just before the coup.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
5 1/2 x 8 1/2 trim. LC 92-56904
An unusual, engaging, and perceptive look at life in the Soviet Union in its final year of existence, by Hixson (History/University of Akron; George Kennan, 1989--not reviewed). Hixson spent ten months lecturing in Kazan, some 460 miles east of Moscow, an area previously closed to foreigners. Here, he gives a different perspective, from the bottom up, of what his life was like there. He lived in his own apartment, bought what food could be found at the local store, waited in long lines, and-- though helped greatly by the enormous generosity and deference offered to Americans--lived the life of an ordinary person. Hixson writes of the people's ``love affair'' with the West, particularly with the US. Even scholars at the Academy of Sciences believed that ``the United States was a model society whose conduct in the cold war could hardly be faulted. The U.S.S.R. alone was guilty.'' A typical contrast Hixson draws is between the hundreds waiting outside the McDonald's in Moscow and the five people sitting in a thousand-seat auditorium watching a scratchy old film of Lenin's life. In the course of his travels, the author encountered the incredible generosity of ordinary Russians; their embitterment about the collapse of their own society; the religious revival sweeping the country; the collapse of higher education; and the ``beaten-down mentality'' of many. He went to village weddings; talked to prostitutes; dated local women--and describes it all with pleasant humor: Visiting Lenin's mausoleum, he says that ``the story that one of Lenin's ears once fell off while a tour group filed through the mausoleum is no doubt apocryphal, but Vladimir Ilyich was not looking too well.'' Hixson concludes that, in certain fundamental respects, ``the West had indeed conquered the East.'' A thoughtful and sensitive description that provides a prespective so often lacking from more conventional accounts. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. First Edition. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 6046261-6
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Midtown Scholar Bookstore, Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. crisp clean w/light shelfwear/edgewear - may have remainder mark Standard-sized. Seller Inventory # 0874516188-01
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Larry W Price Books, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 176 pp., Red Hardback, Gilt title, Fine in Fine DJ, 1st ed. Seller Inventory # 099857
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: J. HOOD, BOOKSELLERS, ABAA/ILAB, Baldwin City, KS, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Very good plus, unused condition with text clean & binding tight / very good plus, bright & crisp dust jacket. Seller Inventory # 141811
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
Condition: very good, very good. First Printing. 23 cm, 176, glossary. Seller Inventory # 28633
Quantity: 1 available