Soviet Adventures in the Land of the Capitalists: Ilf and Petrov's American Road Trip

by Lisa A. Kirschenbaum

Overview

In 1935, two Soviet satirists, Ilia Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, undertook a 10,000 mile American road trip from New York to Hollywood and back accompanied only by their guide and chauffeur, a gregarious Russian Jewish immigrant and his American-born, Russian-speaking wife. They immortalized their journey in a popular travelogue that condemned American inequality and racism even as it marvelled at American modernity and efficiency. Lisa Kirschenbaum reconstructs the epic journey of the two Soviet funnymen and their encounters with a vast cast of characters, ranging from famous authors, artists, poets and filmmakers to unemployed hitchhikers and revolutionaries. Using the authors' notes, US and Russian archives, and even FBI files, she reveals the role of ordinary individuals in shaping foreign relations as Ilf, Petrov and the immigrants, communists, and fellow travelers who served as their hosts, guides, and translators became creative actors in cultural exchange between the two countries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781316518465
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/22/2024
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.91(d)

About the Author

Lisa Kirschenbaum is an award-winning author whose research explores how individuals navigated the traumas of the twentieth century. Her books include Small Comrades: Revolutionizing Childhood in Soviet Russia, 1917–1932 (2000); The Legacy of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941–1995 (2006); and International Communism and the Spanish Civil War (2015).

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. Promised Lands: 1. Amerikanizm; 2. Alienism and radicalism; 3. Pernicious propaganda; 4. Two Russian gentlemen; Part II. New York and the Eastern States: 5. Extraordinary adventures in the land of the capitalists; 6. Photographing New York; 7. Dos; 8. The business of pleasure; 9. Black New York; 10. Complex hybrids; 11. Squaring the circle; 12. The apex of middlebrow culture; Part III. To the Pacific Ocean: 13. The road; 14. Frozen meat, salty butter, and other American delicacies; 15. The nationalities question; 16. A laboratory of anthropology; 17. New Mexico moderns; 18. Can you kid a kidder?; 19. The man in the red shirt; 20. Natural wonders and technical marvels; 21. The American dneprostroi; Part IV. The Golden State: 22. Irrational presuppositions; 23. The soviet colony in Carmel; 24. Friends of the soviet union; 25. Nothing could be more hollywoody; Part V. Journey's End: 26. Racism and democracy; 27. Anxious life; 28. Coda.

Editorial Reviews

03/18/2024

Retracing the 10,000-mile road trip—from New York to Hollywood and back—Soviet satirists Ilf and Petrov undertook in 1935, historian Kirschenbaum (International Communism and the Spanish Civil War) paints a nuanced portrait of interwar America. Born Ilya Arnoldovich Fainzilberg and Evgeny Petrovich Katev respectively, the duo began their literary partnership in 1927 writing for the Moscow newspaper Gudok (alongside Isaac Babel and Mikhail Bulgakov) and quickly became famous for their novels satirizing the Soviet Union of the 1920s. Their road trip—eventually recounted in their 1937 travelogue Low-Rise America—was intended to reveal the “ ‘real’ America of low-rise buildings beyond the skyscrapers of New York.” Kirschenbaum digs into Ilf and Petrov’s travel notes to see what was left out of their published account due to both Soviet censorship and the pair’s own nuanced political point of view (they were for and against various aspects of Soviet and American life). She uncovers a teeming American network of Soviet émigrés, communists, and modernists (among them novelists John Dos Passos and Ernest Hemingway) interested in building friendly relations with the U.S.S.R., and she draws out the implications of the travelogue’s elided facts, including the pair’s extensive association with Jewish Soviet immigrants and their meeting with singer and activist Paul Robeson at a queer cabaret. The result is a meticulously pieced together new perspective on Soviet-U.S. relations. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

‘This book breathes a mixed spirit of distant travel, cultural misperception, mortal danger, and satirical laughter. In 1935, two Soviet authors crossed the US in 1935, from New York to Carmel, and published an engaging but deceptive travelogue, One-Story America. In her striking reconstruction, Lisa A. Kirschenbaum combines both realities — Soviet literature and American history – in one story, well-grounded in the archives but very entertaining to the contemporary reader.’ Alexander Etkind, author of Russia Against Modernity

‘With extraordinary ingenuity, Lisa Kirschenbaum meticulously retraces the famous journey of two Soviet writers across Depression-era America. Through close reading of their private notebooks and the multiple accounts they produced at different moments, she reveals many contradictions, misunderstandings, and misrepresentations in their highly influential work.’ David S. Foglesong, author of The American Mission and the ‘Evil Empire’: The Crusade for a ‘Free Russia’ Since 1881

‘Retracing the steps of Ilf and Petrov’s 1935 American road trip, Kirschenbaum not only reveals fascinating things about the US and USSR in the 1930s, she also reminds us of ways the past reverberates in the present.’ Julia Mickenberg, author of American Girls in Red Russia: Chasing the Soviet Dream

‘…a must for readers interested in Soviet, American, or Jewish history and radical politics.’ Margaret Heller, Library Journal

'… a meticulously pieced together new perspective on Soviet-U.S. relations.' Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

03/01/2024

The travels of humorist/satirical writing duo Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov showcase the United States and its relationship with the Soviet Union in the mid-1930s in a new way. The two Soviets took a road trip from New York to Hollywood and back and wrote about it in a popular travelogue. There's evidence that shows the story they told, however, was not entirely accurate, and the true stories of their travels are worth learning. Award winner Kirschenbaum (International Communism and the Spanish Civil War) weaves in her own journey traveling Ilf and Petrov's route across the United States with the archival resources she found along the way, along with journals and other versions of the duo's travelogue. The interests that the Soviet Union had in American industry and entertainment are particularly enlightening. VERDICT This book traces the elisions and obfuscations in Ilf and Petrov's story and the political and humorous motivations they may have had for doing so. Questions of politics, art, commerce, identity, and how Soviet citizens perceived themselves in relation to Americans make for a fascinating story. It's somewhat academic, but this book is a must for readers interested in Soviet, American, or Jewish history and radical politics.—Margaret Heller

Library Journal