{"product_id":"foolsburg-the-history-of-a-town-9780593687314","title":"Foolsburg: The History of a Town","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe award-winning translators bring us a new translation of an 1870 comic novel by Russia's greatest satirist--whose mockery of Russian autocracy is as relevant as ever. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Pevear and Volokhonsky [are the] reigning translators of Russian literature. . . . \u003c\/b\u003e In Russia, \u003ci\u003eThe History of a Town\u003c\/i\u003e is read in schools and regarded as a masterpiece of 19th-century satire. . . . [This new translation] is an argument for the book's Swiftian wit and its relevance to Russia and the United States today.\" \u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e--The New York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA major classic in Russia since its publication, \u003ci\u003eFoolsburg \u003c\/i\u003eis the farcical chronicle of a fictional town and its hapless inhabitants as they passively endure the violence and lunacy of their rulers. The succession of brutal mayors of the town include such surreal extremes as a man with a music box instead of a brain and one so tall that he snaps in half during a windstorm. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin marries biting satire reminiscent of Jonathan Swift with the fantastical absurdity of Nikolai Gogol, imbued throughout with his own brand of playful wordplay. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe award-winning translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have produced the first translation of this work into English that successfully captures its zany humor and enduring relevance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMIKHAIL SALTYKOV-SHCHEDRIN (1826-1889), known during his life by his pen name, Nikolai Shchedrin, was a major Russian writer and satirist. Born to a noble family, he worked as a civil servant while writing for and editing radical journals, which led to a banishment of seven years. His most famous novels are the family saga \u003ci\u003eThe Golovlyov Family\u003c\/i\u003e (1880) and the political satire \u003ci\u003eThe History of a Town\u003c\/i\u003e (1870). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Translators: \u003c\/b\u003e RICHARD PEVEAR and LARISSA VOLOKHONSKY have translated works by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Gogol, Bulgakov, Leskov, and Pasternak. They were twice awarded the PEN\/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize (for Dostoevsky's \u003ci\u003eThe Brothers Karamazov\u003c\/i\u003e and Tolstoy's \u003ci\u003eAnna Karenina\u003c\/i\u003e). They are married and live in France.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50894857240850,"sku":"9780593687314","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ef16d0e9-31fd-4cd6-819d-c0c92fd87592.jpg?v=1738263143","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/foolsburg-the-history-of-a-town-9780593687314","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}