In the jaws of the crocodile : a Soviet memoir / Emil Draitser.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Draitser, Emil, 1937- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Draitser, Emil, 1937-.

Draitser, Emil.

Jews--Soviet Union--Biography.

Jews.

Jewish authors.

Jewish journalists.

Soviet Union.

Jewish journalists--Soviet Union--Biography.

Jewish authors--Soviet Union--Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 262 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wisconsin : The University of Wisconsin Press, [2021]

Summary:

"Emil Draitser dreamed of becoming a writer. Born to a working-class Jewish family in the USSR on the eve of World War II, he came of age during the Brezhnev era, often considered the nadir of Soviet culture. Bored with an engineering job, he found refuge in writing, attracting the attention of a Moscow editor who encouraged him to try his hand at satire. He spent the next decade contributing to Crocodile, the major Party-sponsored magazine known for its sharp-tongued essays and caustic cartoons. After he got in trouble for criticizing an important Soviet official, he began weighing the heavy decision of whether to emigrate. In this captivating memoir, Draitser explores what it means to be a satirist in a country lacking freedom of expression. His experience provides a window into the lives of a generation of artists who were allowed to poke fun and make readers laugh, as long as they toed a narrow, state-approved line. In the Jaws of the Crocodile also includes several of Draitser's wry pieces translated into English for the first time." --Amazon.com.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I HOPES AND DREAMS, 1953-55

1. Imagine You

2. The Evil Commas

3. A Fortress Named College

pt. II SERENDIPITY, 1964

4. The Sudden Offer

5. Funny People

6. To Laugh or Not to Laugh

pt. III ON A ROLL, 1964-70

7. The First Targets

8. My Pen Name

9. How to Win Them Over

10. A Mosquito in Amber

11. Apples of Discord

pt. IV IN HOT WATER, 1971

12. The Scatterbrain Debacle

13. Who Has Done It?

14. Who's Ordered It

15. Crocodile Responds

16. In a "Domestic" Way

17. The Pecking Order

pt. V NOT FOR WANT OF TRYING, 1971-73

18. Writing between the Lines

19. Slippery Slope

20. For the Desk Drawer

21. A Jewish Writer?

pt. VI JUMPING INTO THE ABYSS 1974

22. Flipping a Coin

23. Bless Stanley Kramer!

24. A Small Iron Door in the Wall.

ISBN:

9780299329006

0299329003

OCLC:

1152361662