Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for the ARC.

This is such a weird satire of Russian history and politics, yet still so relevant to current events worldwide. It has the absurdity of an old folktale, where strange and fantastical elements are treated as normal, and uses this to mock the pattern of the poor masses blindly following a series of mayors, each proving more idiotic and egomaniacal than the last. It's funny, but also a very grim view of the direction we're heading in.

If Pevear and Volokhonsky translate it, you'll find me reading it. I was unfamiliar with Foolsburg but I saw the translators and requested it just based on that. I am so glad I did!

Foolsburg is a 19th century Russian satire set in a fictional town, addressing the farcical leadership in said town and the townspeople themselves. There's such sharp wit in this story, Saltykov-Schedrin was unfamiliar to me prior to reading this but I can see why it's a classic in Russia. Readers of Nikolai Gogol and Isaac Babel will delight in this one.

I was very interested in this book for obvious reasons - I just finished my B.A. in Russian Lang & Lit. I especially enjoyed the concept of this short novel because it is based on an old historical document commonly called in English the ‘Primary Chronicle’. I won’t bore with the details, but this document is foundational to the history of East Slavs (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia) and it ALSO ties this history to Orthodoxy/Christianity. (Funnily enough, I took an entire seminar on the medieval time period and this document!! lol). So to read a political satire of this historical-religious document felt VERY silly. Pretty much every chapter has “blasphemous” content - like women being mayors, adultery, profanity (of course) - and its more fantastical elements are a mockery of the religious miracles in the Chronicle. To add a layer, throughout each chapter is the voice of “the Publisher”, who is actually the author himself reading and summarizing this satirical version of the Chronicle. This would have been a brilliant form of satire at the time of its publication, and I admire it myself as well. Even without all this background knowledge, I think this novel is still clearly satirical of government corruption, religion, the frivolity of man, etc. that are easily connected to today. I understand this is an incredibly biased recommendation BUT if it already hits certains likes you have in books - a fun read indeed! (rhyme inspired by how the characters speak in the translation).

I don't normally read books like this but I was amused. It was also pretty interesting and this it's worth a read