Author Description

This is the famous and most popular book in Russian still today. We at Ishi Press have published this book in the original Russian under ISBN number 4871876772. Here is the translation into English under ISBN 4-87187-678-0. Students of Russian speaking English and students of English who are speaking Russian can lay these books side by side and see the words in both languages. The name The Little Golden Calf comes from the Bible, the Book of Exodus 32:1-4 Delighted applause from both sides of the Atlantic greeted the first publication of this comic clasic about Soviet life in the early years after the Revolution. Social changes then were so drastic and came so thick and fast that even most Russians were confused. This is the story of Ostap Bender, opportunist and small time crook, who makes the most of the situation. Discovering that millions have leaked quietly out of Soviet coffers into the hands of a unreconstructed individualist who believed in private enterprise, our hero sets about getting this fortune into his own hands. Rounding up a motley gang of hoodlums he embarks on a series of hilariously breathtaking escapades and adventures impossible in any other time or place. In the end they succeed but the pay-off is no bargain. Ilf and Petrov never poked funnier fun at their people and politics in this picaresque novel of red tape and wretches.