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 I especially enjoyed the concept of this short novel because it is based on an old historical document commonly called in English the ‘Primary Chronicle’.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