Description
Masha Gessen, one of the most perceptive of a new generation of correspondents in Russia, does not share this opinion. Her fascinating book is the first to examine the ways in which intellectuals are finding an identity in the new Russia. Through a series of extraordinary individual stories, she shows their quest for a new faith, be it religion or the paranormal, a commitment to nationalist ideology, or to feminist principles. She shows, too, their search for a place in the new society, as artist or politician, entrepreneur or neo-dissident. Some of those she describes as already famous (or infamous); others unknown. Her accounts of their careers and preoccupations can be inspiring or harrowing, and sometimes hilarious. Finally, Masha Gessen considers the prospects for future generations of intellectuals, giving a vivid, and disturbing, portrait of Russia's outcast Generation X, and of those younger still, who have largely abandoned any notion of society or hope for a place in it.
Intellectuals' search for identity and relevance in modern Russia
About the Author
Masha Gessen was born in Russia in 1967, and forced to leave in 1981 by state-enforced anti-Semitism. After working as a writer and editor on magazines including The Advocate and Outweek in the United States, she returned to Moscow in 1994. She is now staff writer on the magazine Itogi and political columnist for the journal Matador. She is a contributing editor to the American magazine Lingua Franca and writes regularly on Russia for the New Republic and the New Statesman. She edited and translated an anthology of contemporary Russian women's fiction and was a contributing editor to Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate History of the Gay and Lesbian Movement.
Book Information
ISBN 9781859841471
Author Masha Gessen
Format Paperback
Page Count 228
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 391g
Dimensions(mm) 236mm * 157mm * 18mm