Wow! eBook
Smashed in the USSR: Fear, Loathing and Vodka on the Steppes
Author(s): Caroline Walton (Author), Ivan Petrov (Author)
- Publisher: Old Street Publishing
- Publication Date: 28 May 2013
- Language: English
- Print length: 256 pages
- ISBN-10: 9781908699220
- ISBN-13: 1908699221
Book Description
‘Who am I? An alcoholic and a tramp. But I am no white raven. Our alcoholics outnumber the populations of France and Spain combined. And that’s only the men. If you count women you have to add on all Scandinavia and throw in Monaco for good measure.’
For forty years Ivan Petrov careered, stumbled, staggered and rampaged all over the vast Soviet empire. Homeless (an illegal condition in the communist utopia), in and out of prison camps, almost always drunk, and with a gift for hilariously sending up the tragic absurdities of Soviet life, Ivan was a real-life Svejk. This is his unforgettable story, as told to Caroline Walton just before his death.
The text is complemented by twelve original illustrations by Natalia Vetrova.Editorial Reviews
Review
‘Mind-blowing adventures… an extraordinary memoir’
BIG ISSUE
BIG ISSUE
‘Brilliant… cent[res] on the life of Ivan Petrov, a homeless drunk whose natural wit and honesty paints a colourful but brutal depiction of his former life in Russia.’
‘Funny, moving and terrible… sums up all the absurdity of life in the Soviet Union’
