This series follows the escapades of one of literature's most iconic con artists navigating the chaotic landscape of post-revolutionary Russia. Alongside a cast of colorful accomplices, this cunning "combiner" finds himself entangled in absurd and comical situations while pursuing elusive fortunes. With sharp wit and keen satirical insight into society, these works expose human foibles and hypocrisy with enduring humor.
Long recognised as a timeless comic masterpiece-it inspired a Mel Brooks film a half century after its publication-The Twelve Chairs appears now in a lively new translation by Anne O. Fisher. Fisher, the most gifted interpreter of Ilf and Petrov in the English language, balances fidelity to the text and the authors' characteristic, deeply resonant humour.
The funniest novel of the Soviet era, this translation is based on the uncensored original thus restoring missing passages. Set during the New Economic Policy, con man Ostap Bender and his merry band of mischief makers set of on a raucously funny jaunt across the 'wild west' of the early Soviet Union. Their mark is Alexander Koreiko, another shady figure who exploited the corruption and chaos of the NEP to become an underground millionaire. Once Bender hears of Koreiko, the chase is on.
Дилогия Ильфа и Петрова о Великом Комбинаторе Остапе Бендере.