The Little Golden Calf

The satirical novel's main character, Ostap Bender, also appeared in a previous novel by the authors called The Twelve Chairs. The title alludes to the "golden calf" of the Bible; another possible rendering of it in English, less literal but better tuned to the air of the novel, would be "The Gilded Calf". It continues the theme of the denunciation of money-grubbing, philistine stupidity, and bureaucracy, which began in “The Twelve Chairs”.

This brand new translation of the famous satirical sequel to The Twelve Chairs resurrects the con man Ostap Bender, the smooth operator, and follows him and his three hapless co-conspirators on a hilarious romp through the Soviet Russia and Central Asia of 1930. Bender says he has "very serious differences of opinion with Soviet power. It wants to build socialism, and I don't." The smooth operator wants to emigrate to Rio de Janeiro, so he and his crew set off in pursuit of an underground millionaire, who, Bender is certain, will bring me his money himself, on a little saucer with a sky-blue rim. One of the greatest works of Russian satire of the 20th century (the 1932 American translation billed it as "The book that's too funny to be published in Russia!"), this lively new translation (the first since 1961) by Anne O. Fisher is copiously annotated (nearly 300 footnotes), and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book s two co-authors. So many quotations from The Little Golden Calf have entered everyday Russian speech that it stands alongside the works of Griboyedov, Pushkin, and Gogol for its profound effect on Russian language and culture. The tale overflows with legendary literary episodes, offering a portrait of Russian life that is as funny and true today as it was when the novel was first published (this edition is the first unabridged, uncensored English translation, and is 100% true to the original serial publication). For decades, foreigners trying to understand Russia have been advised to read the adventures of Ostap. This new translation makes them more enjoyable than ever.

The Golden Calf is a famous satirical novel by Soviet authors Il'f and Petrov, released in 1931. Its main character Ostap Bender, also appeared in a previous novel by the authors called The Twelve Chairs. Ostap Bender is still alive (but sports an unexplained scar across his neck), after somehow surviving the assassination in the previous book. This time he hears a story about an "underground millionaire" named Alexandr Koreiko. Bender tracks him down and uses his wiles to try to con him out of his money. The book contributed a number of catchphrases and colourful terms into the Russian language, such as "Horns and Hoofs company" and "Children of Lieutenant Schmidt."

In 1935, well into the era of Soviet communism, Russian satirical writers Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov came to the U.S as special correspondents for the Russian newspaper Pravda. They drove cross-country and back on a ten-week trip, recording images of American life through humerous texts and the lens of a Leica camera. When they returned home, they published their work in Ogonek, the Soviet equivalent of Time magazine, and later in the book Odnoetazhnaia Amerika (Single-Storied America). This wonderful lost workfilled with wry observations, biting opinions, and telling photographsis now collected in Ilf and Petrov's American Road Trip, the first English translation. From Ilf and Petrov's American Road Trip: "The word 'America' has well-developed grandiose associations for a Soviet person, for whom it refers to a country of skyscrapers, where day and night one hears the unceasing thunder of surface and underground trains, the hellish roar of automobile horns, and the continuous despairing screams of stockbrokers rushing through the skyscrapers waving their ever-falling shares. We want to change that image." A Cabinet Book published by Princeton Architectural Press

This is the famous and most popular book in Russian still today. We at Ishi Press have published this book in the original Russian under ISBN number 4871876772. Here is the translation into English under ISBN 4-87187-678-0. Students of Russian speaking English and students of English who are speaking Russian can lay these books side by side and see the words in both languages. The name The Little Golden Calf comes from the Bible, the Book of Exodus 32:1-4 Delighted applause from both sides of the Atlantic greeted the first publication of this comic clasic about Soviet life in the early years after the Revolution. Social changes then were so drastic and came so thick and fast that even most Russians were confused. This is the story of Ostap Bender, opportunist and small time crook, who makes the most of the situation. Discovering that millions have leaked quietly out of Soviet coffers into the hands of a unreconstructed individualist who believed in private enterprise, our hero sets about getting this fortune into his own hands. Rounding up a motley gang of hoodlums he embarks on a series of hilariously breathtaking escapades and adventures impossible in any other time or place. In the end they succeed but the pay-off is no bargain. Ilf and Petrov never poked funnier fun at their people and politics in this picaresque novel of red tape and wretches.

«Одноэтажная Америка» – произведение в жанре путевого очерка, написанное Ильей Ильфом и Евгением Петровым. Это добрая и умная книга, рассказывающая о жизни и быте американцев, о встречах авторов с самыми разными людьми, полная интересных историй и наблюдений. Читателям предлагается неадаптированный перевод произведения на английский язык, выполненный Чарльзом Маламутом. Пособие рассчитано на широкий круг читателей, изучающих английский язык и интересующихся творчеством И. Ильфа и Е. Петрова.В формате PDF A4 сохранен издательский макет книги.