Selected Works. Volume One

The first volume of the Selected Works includes two writings. The first is a novella in stories, Delirious Soup. It tells of Ilya, a mathematician and émigré from Russia living in America. He dreams of things that once happened to him in his former life. And the dreams he once dreamed long ago turned out to be close to his real life in America. The title comes from Ilya’s own words about Soviet Russia: “… everything was sheer delirium. People in delirious clothes sat in delirious rooms on delirious chairs and with delirious spoons ate delirious soup.” The second part of the volume is The Great Cookbook of Developed Socialism. It offers culinary recipes and advice for residents of two Soviet cities—Moscow and Leningrad. The collection reflects two stages of the country’s social order—developed socialism and communism—which came to an end in the early 1990s. Yet the book could still be useful for many who lived, or still live, in Russia in later times. It may also be of value to people in other parts of the world with a similar way of life. Finally, it should be of unquestionable interest to those who study the problems of socialism and communism—and of special interest to those who have never given such matters a thought.