The Moscow Eccentric
This newly rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century. And reviewers have hailed the translation as "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement."

An absent-minded professor and a glamorous yet bumbling spy struggle over a powerful secret formula in this tale filled with eccentric personalities, wild dialogue, improbable sounds, bristling images and vivid colors.

In The Moscow Eccentric, Andrei Bely challenges readers not only with his ideas, but by presenting them in a what he called an "epic poem in prose format." Built on a rhythmic backbone of metered prose that supports a wondrous array of literary devices, both poetic and prosaic, Bely's language play is breathtaking. He is as brilliant on a huge canvas depicting spectacular swaths of city life as he is in detailing the patterns of snow on a small stretch of sidewalk. He surprises and thrills readers with constant tonal and stylistic variation, moving effortlessly from lyrical descriptions of nature to slapstick physical and verbal parody of Russia's social milieu.

Brought into English for the first time by award-winning translator Brendan Kiernan, and peppered with original illustrations by Katya Korobkina, this is a stunning, poetic, and powerful novel by the author of Petersburg, which Vladimir Nabokov called one of the four best novels of the twentieth century.
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The Moscow Eccentric
This newly rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century. And reviewers have hailed the translation as "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement."

An absent-minded professor and a glamorous yet bumbling spy struggle over a powerful secret formula in this tale filled with eccentric personalities, wild dialogue, improbable sounds, bristling images and vivid colors.

In The Moscow Eccentric, Andrei Bely challenges readers not only with his ideas, but by presenting them in a what he called an "epic poem in prose format." Built on a rhythmic backbone of metered prose that supports a wondrous array of literary devices, both poetic and prosaic, Bely's language play is breathtaking. He is as brilliant on a huge canvas depicting spectacular swaths of city life as he is in detailing the patterns of snow on a small stretch of sidewalk. He surprises and thrills readers with constant tonal and stylistic variation, moving effortlessly from lyrical descriptions of nature to slapstick physical and verbal parody of Russia's social milieu.

Brought into English for the first time by award-winning translator Brendan Kiernan, and peppered with original illustrations by Katya Korobkina, this is a stunning, poetic, and powerful novel by the author of Petersburg, which Vladimir Nabokov called one of the four best novels of the twentieth century.
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Overview

This newly rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century. And reviewers have hailed the translation as "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement."

An absent-minded professor and a glamorous yet bumbling spy struggle over a powerful secret formula in this tale filled with eccentric personalities, wild dialogue, improbable sounds, bristling images and vivid colors.

In The Moscow Eccentric, Andrei Bely challenges readers not only with his ideas, but by presenting them in a what he called an "epic poem in prose format." Built on a rhythmic backbone of metered prose that supports a wondrous array of literary devices, both poetic and prosaic, Bely's language play is breathtaking. He is as brilliant on a huge canvas depicting spectacular swaths of city life as he is in detailing the patterns of snow on a small stretch of sidewalk. He surprises and thrills readers with constant tonal and stylistic variation, moving effortlessly from lyrical descriptions of nature to slapstick physical and verbal parody of Russia's social milieu.

Brought into English for the first time by award-winning translator Brendan Kiernan, and peppered with original illustrations by Katya Korobkina, this is a stunning, poetic, and powerful novel by the author of Petersburg, which Vladimir Nabokov called one of the four best novels of the twentieth century.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940157022747
Publisher: Russian Life Books
Publication date: 11/17/2016
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 300
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrei Bely (1880-1934), born Boris Nikolayevich Bugayev, lived in Moscow and became a novelist, poet, and literary theorist and critic. Vladimir Nabokov ranked Bely’s Petersburg one of the four best novels of the twentieth century. Bely’s prose and poetry were deeply influenced by both his theoretical constructs and, unusually, empirical analysis of his own and others’ work. Bely lived and worked in both tsarist and Bolshevik Russia, and, like many of his contemporaries, spent some years traveling and living in Europe.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Brendan Kiernan is a freelance translator and political analyst. A student of Russian language and literature since 1977, he earned his bachelor's from Williams College and his Ph.D (in Political Science) from Indiana University, Bloomington, as well as an area studies certificate from IU’s famed Russian and East European Institute. He is the author of The End of Soviet Politics (Westview). His translation of Vladimir Gilyarkovsky's masterpiece Moscow and Muscovites Moscow and Muscovites won the 2015 AATSEEL Prize for Best Translation of a Scholarly Work into English.
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