{"product_id":"tolstoy-rasputin-others-and-me-the-best-of-teffi-9781590179963","title":"Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me: The Best of Teffi","description":"Early in her literary career Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya, born in St. Petersburg in 1872, adopted the pen-name of Teffi, and it is as Teffi that she is remembered. In prerevolutionary Russia she was a literary star, known for her humorous satirical pieces; in the 1920s and 30s, she wrote some of her finest stories in exile in Paris, recalling her unforgettable encounters with Rasputin, and her hopeful visit at age thirteen to Tolstoy after reading \u003ci\u003eWar and Peace\u003c\/i\u003e. In this selection of her best autobiographical stories, she covers a wide range of subjects, from family life to revolution and emigration, writers and writing. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Like Nabokov, Platonov, and other great Russian prose writers, Teffi was a poet who turned to prose but continued to write with a poet's sensitivity to tone and rhythm. Like Chekhov, she fuses wit, tragedy, and a remarkable capacity for observation; there are few human weaknesses she did not relate to with compassion and understanding.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTeffi\u003c\/b\u003e (1872-1952) was a popular writer in prerevolutionary Russia, a favorite of both Tsar Nicholas II and Lenin. She was born to a prominent St. Petersburg family and emigrated from Bolshevik Russia in 1919. Eventually settling in Paris, she became an important figure in the émigré literary scene and lived there until her death. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eRobert Chandler\u003c\/b\u003e is the translator of the NYRB Classics editions of Andrey Platanov's \u003ci\u003eSoul \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e The Foundation Pit\u003c\/i\u003e. His masterful translation of Vasily Grossman's \u003ci\u003eLife and Fate\u003c\/i\u003e first appeared in 1985 and is available as an NYRB Classic. He lives in London.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"New York Review of Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50357296791826,"sku":"9781590179963","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_80b352ef-71b3-4ff8-b11b-019e8ca09cdb.jpg?v=1728322219","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/tolstoy-rasputin-others-and-me-the-best-of-teffi-9781590179963","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}