For a decade Russia has been dismantling communism and building capitalism. Describing a deeply flawed fledgling market economy, Capitalism Russian-Style provides a progress report on one of the most important economic experiments going on in the world today. It describes Russian achievements in building private banks and companies, stock exchanges, new laws and law courts. It analyzes the role of the mafia, the rise of new financial empires, entrepreneurs and business tycoons, and the shrinking Russian state. Thane Gustafson tells how the Soviet system was dismantled and the new market society was born. He argues that this new society is changing constantly, so that any assessment of success and failure would be premature. Identifying investment as vital to preserving Russia's status as a major industrial power, in his final chapter he examines the prospects for an economic miracle in Russia in the twenty-first century.

Ptushkina's plays reflect her keen interest in constructing multidimensional characters that reflect the myriad ways people are affected by today's turbulent world. Often writing strong female roles, she does not shy away from exploring the sometimes tragic implications that lie behind her comical, almost farcical scenes. Ptushkina questions the nature of love, and explores the boundaries between the spiritual and the base, the constructive and the destructive, that lie within every human being. Her writing questions the relationship between ideals and reality, and between truth and deception. In this new translation, western readers have a chance to discover why Ptushkina's work holds such a wide appeal in the Russian theatre. “The universal themes of love, the need for human closeness, and multifaceted complex female characters make Nadezhda Ptushkina’s plays desirable material for any professional theatre,” says Slava Yastremski in the preface to this edition. Current edition contains such famous Ptushkina’s plays as I Pay Up Front, Somebody Else’s Candlelight, Momma’s Dying Again, My Goldfish and Rachel’s Flute. Translated from the Russian by Slava Yastremsky and Michael M. Naydan.

"Motherhood, Russian-style" offers an intimate look at modern Russian mothers and how they are raising their children today. In the course of researching this book, the author interviewed hundreds of Russian mothers, living in Moscow, many corners of Russia, and quite literally all over the world. "Motherhood, Russian-style" takes readers on a very personal journey through all aspects on raising children, the "Russian" way. Despite their many individual approaches, there are some unifying elements of Russian motherhood, placing modern Russian mothers quite comfortably somewhere in between Asian tiger mums and the more laid-back parenting styles popular in America and Europe. A light read filled with many personal anecdotes, this book includes a glossary of classic Russian childhood words, and takes a close look at many of the aspects of raising children which make Russian mamas unique. From dachas to shapkas, kasha to borsch, chess to ballet, the trials and tribulations of raising Russian children make for an entertaining and enjoyable read. Mothers may even discover a few clever tips along the way, such as how Russian babies are potty trained well before the age of two, or how Russian mothers easily get their young children to eat healthy, home-made food. 10% of all worldwide royalties received by the author from sales of "Motherhood, Russian-style" will be immediately donated to international charities actively aiding refugee families and children in need in war-torn eastern Ukraine. Tanja Maier is American, speaks Russian fluently, and found herself a single mother raising her infant son in Moscow in 2006, after having lived in Russia for almost a decade. Tanja is a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and an alumnus of Harvard Business School. Tanja lives in Vienna, Austria with her family.

"This book argues that the Russian duel acquired its enduring prestige because it served to define and to defend personal autonomy in a hierarchical state that lacked legal guarantees against corporal punishment. To fight a tradition that tolerated superiors' punching and slapping their subordinates, Russian duelists embraced raw violence and incorporated it into dueling procedure, thus replacing the hierarchical - and therefore humiliating - violence of corporal punishment with the equalizing violence of the duel. Once made reciprocal, a punishing gesture (such as a slap in the face) lost its capacity to impose a hierarchy of authority and became a means of promoting equality between the parties."--BOOK JACKET.

A sumptuously illustrated, full-color book re-creates the Russian aristocracy's world of opulent design, beautiful objects, and magnificent art and architecture through gorgeous pictures and rich text.

NAMED ONE OF THE ATLANTIC'S GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS OF THE PAST 100 YEARS A visionary novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story and Little Failure. The Russian Debutante's Handbook introduces Vladimir Girshkin, one of the most original and unlikely heroes of recent times. The twenty-five-year-old unhappy lover to a fat dungeon mistress, affectionately nicknamed "Little Failure" by his high-achieving mother, Vladimir toils his days away as a lowly clerk at the bureaucratic Emma Lazarus Immigrant Absorption Society. When a wealthy but psychotic old Russian war hero appears, Vladimir embarks on an adventure of unrelenting lunacy that takes us from New York's Lower East Side to the hip frontier wilderness of Prava--the Eastern European Paris of the nineties. With the help of a murderous but fun-loving Russian mafioso, Vladimir infiltrates the Prava expat community and launches a scheme as ridiculous as it is brilliant. Bursting with wit, humor, and rare insight, The Russian Debutante's Handbook is both a highly imaginative romp and a serious exploration of what it means to be an immigrant in America.