A semi-autobiographical novel by the Russian author best known for The Master and the Margarita describes a writers failure to sell his novel and then his inability to commit suicide, as well as his discovery of the unexpected consequences of literary success when his play is accepted for a theatrical production. Original. 12,000 first printing. Sergei Maksudov has failed as a novelist and made a farce of a suicide attempt, but only after a surprise break as a playwright on the Moscow stage does his turmoil truly begin. Thrown uncomprehending into theatre life, he soon sees his beloved play dragged into chaos by inflated egos, jealous critics, literary double-dealers, communist censors and insanely bad acting. Full of affectionately drawn characters, A Dead Mans Memoir is a brilliant, absurdist tale of the exhilaration and black desperation wrought on one man by his turbulent love affair with the theatre. Based on Bulgakovs own experiences at the famous Moscow Art Theatre of the 1920s and 30s, it reaches its comic height in a merciless lampooning of Stanislavskys fashionable stage techniques. A new translation of one of the most popular satires on the Russian Revolution and Soviet society Best known for The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov is one of twentieth-century Russias most prominent novelists. A Dead Mans Memoir is a semi- autobiographical story about a writer who fails to sell his novel, then fails to commit suicide. When the writers play is taken up for production in a theater, literary success beckons, but he is not prepared to reckon with the grotesquely inflated egos of the actors, directors, and theater managers. A new translation of one of the most popular satires on the Russian Revolution and Soviet societyBest known for The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov is one of twentieth-century Russias most prominent novelists. ADead Mans Memoir is a semi- autobiographical story about a writer who fails to sell his novel, then fails to commit suicide. When the writers play is taken up for production in a theater, literary success beckons, but he is not prepared to reckon with the grotesquely inflated egos of the actors, directors, and theater managers.
