Arkady Averchenko: A Dozen Knives in the Back of the Revolution

Arkady Timofeyevich Averchenko was a remarkable Russian writer, playwright, theater critic, and editor of the legendary Saint Petersburg magazine "Satyricon," which became a major cultural phenomenon of the Silver Age. As a budding writer, Averchenko arrived in the capital from southern Russia hoping to try his luck—and soon became one of the most famous and successful humorists. The magazine he created, according to Teffi, "liberated Russian humor... Russia began to laugh." This edition includes humorous stories and feuilletons by Averchenko from various years, as well as the cycle "A Dozen Knives in the Back of the Revolution," which was described even in Lenin’s scathing review as a "highly talented book." In the words of the leader of the world proletariat, "that is exactly how the revolution must seem to the representatives of the ruling classes." The subjects presented by Averchenko, ranging from scenes of everyday life to biting political satire, are often grotesque, yet no less truthful for it. Gentle humor, cheerful, high-spirited laughter, and bile-filled sarcasm—the entire palette of the comic was subject to Averchenko’s pen. It is not for nothing that his contemporaries called him the "King of Laughter."

Author: Arkady Averchenko

Pages: 352 (newsprint). Paperback

Dimensions: 180x115x13 mm

Series: Azbooka-Classics