{"product_id":"the-golden-calf-9781934824078","title":"The Golden Calf","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"A remarkably funny book written by a remarkable pair of collaborators.\"--\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOstap Bender, the \"grand strategist,\" is a con man on the make in the Soviet Union during the New Economic Policy (NEP) period. He's obsessed with getting one last big score--a few hundred thousand will do--and heading for Rio de Janeiro, where there are \"a million and a half people, all of them wearing white pants, without exception.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Bender hears the story of Alexandr Koreiko, an \"undercover millionaire\"--no Soviet citizen was allowed to openly hoard so much capital--the chase is on. Koreiko has made his millions by taking advantage of the wide-spread corruption and utter chaos of the NEP, all while serving quietly as an accountant at a government office and living on 46 rubles a month. He's just waiting for the Soviet regime to collapse so he can make use of his stash, which he keeps hidden away in a suitcase.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIlya Ilf\u003c\/b\u003e (1897-1937) and \u003cb\u003eEvgeny Petrov\u003c\/b\u003e (1903-1942) were the pseudonyms of Ilya Arnoldovich Faynzilberg and Evgeny Petrovich Katayev, a pair of Soviet writers who met in Moscow in the 1920s while working on the staff of a newspaper that was distributed to railway workers. The foremost comic novelists of the early Soviet Union (invariably referred to as Ilf \u0026amp; Petrov), the pair collaborated together for a dozen years, writing two of the most revered and loved Russian novels, \u003ci\u003eThe Twelve Chairs\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Calf\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as various humorous pieces for Pravda and other magazines. Their collaboration came to an end following the death of Ilya Ilf in 1937--he had contracted tuberculosis while the pair was traveling the United States researching the book that eventually became \u003ci\u003eLittle Golden America\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKonstantin Gurevich\u003c\/b\u003e is a graduate of Moscow State University and the University of Texas at Austin. He translates with his wife, Helen Anderson. Both are librarians at the University of Rochester.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHelen Anderson\u003c\/b\u003e studied Russian language and literature at McGill University in Montréal. She translates with her husband, Konstantin Gurevich.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIlya Ilf\u003c\/b\u003e (1897-1937) and \u003cb\u003eEvgeny Petrov\u003c\/b\u003e (1903-1942) were the pseudonyms of Ilya Arnoldovich Faynzilberg and Evgeny Petrovich Katayev, a pair of Soviet writers who met in Moscow in the 1920s while working on the staff of a newspaper that was distributed to railway workers. The foremost comic novelists of the early Soviet Union (invariably referred to as Ilf \u0026amp; Petrov), the pair collaborated together for a dozen years, writing two of the most revered and loved Russian novels, \u003ci\u003eThe Twelve Chairs\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Calf\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as various humorous pieces for Pravda and other magazines. Their collaboration came to an end following the death of Ilya Ilf in 1937--he had contracted tuberculosis while the pair was traveling the United States researching the book that eventually became \u003ci\u003eLittle Golden America\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKonstantin Gurevich\u003c\/b\u003e is a graduate of Moscow State University and the University of Texas at Austin. He translates with his wife, Helen Anderson. Both are librarians at the University of Rochester.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHelen Anderson\u003c\/b\u003e studied Russian language and literature at McGill University in Montréal. She translates with her husband, Konstantin Gurevich.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Open Letter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50364253700370,"sku":"9781934824078","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3e2a23bb-11c1-45b2-a44e-31b66c65d615.jpg?v=1728429417","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-golden-calf-9781934824078","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}