The Man with the Black Coat: Russia’s Literature of the Absurd

This book brings together works by two of the outstanding talents of the Soviet period, Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky. The Man with the Black Coat is part of the little-known absurdist trend that persisted during the Stalinist period--a testimony to the Russian imagination in the face of socialist realism as well as the vitality of an important literary tradition.

"This book is special with its snippets of fantastic, bizarre black humor, but important as literary history." --Publishers Weekly

"Professor Gibian's book is most welcome, for he has not only provided translations of works by Kharms and Vvedensky . . . but has also included a critical introduction, a translation of the Oberiu manifesto, and a useful biography." --Slavic Review