Interview with the great Russian writer Victor Erofeev

Born 43 years before the USSR has collapsed, Victor Yerofeev (on September 19, 1947) became one of the most known AntiSoviet writers. A publication of his essay Marquis de Sade: sadism and the XXth century brought him fame. In 1979, he produced a scandalous literary almanac, Metropol, in which many important Soviet writers published. The almanac was put into circulation via samizdat channel, to avoid Soviet censorship. As a result, Yerofeev was expelled from the Union of Soviet Writers and was banned from publishing until 1988; also his father who was a highranked diplomat has lost his job for the same reason. Yerofeevs most popular novel is Russian Beauty, but curious readers might know his other works as well: Life with an Idiot which was turned into an opera by a famous composer Alfred Shnitke and autobiographical novel The Good Stalin. Almost every book provoked scandals and heated debates. This happened also with Encyclopaedia of the Russian Soul published in 1999, provided the m