Dear Colleagues,
I would like to draw attention of everyone who is interested in Lilia
Brik, Vladidmir Mayakovsky and literary environment in Russia in the
beginning of XX century to the outstanding book just published in
Moscow.
Ikshin, Feliks. Lilia Brik: The Biography of a Great Lover.
Moscow: EKSMO, 2008, 592 pp., 4000 copies, ISBN 978-5-699-25359-3 (in
Russian).
A biography of Lily Brik (1891-1978), mistress of the poet Vladimir
Mayakovsky and the muse of the Russian avant-garde, has come to light
at the end of 2008. Renowned literary scholar Felix Ikshin has
created the first complete and chronologically accurate depiction of
the life of this extraordinary woman. In the text here are mentioned
events and episodes never before put into the researchers' view.
Critically reevaluated memoirs and testimonial documents are placed
into their historical context. Not a small amount of space in the
book is devoted to the description of the sex life not only of the
triangle Mayakovsky-Lily Brik-Osip Brik, but also of other Russian
cultural figures, which gives, in its turn, a unique counterpoint.
There is an examination of the mutual relationships of the heroine
here with the poets Konstantin Lipskerov and Sofia Parnok, and there
is an analysis of the poetic epistle of Mikhail Kuzmin that was
addressed to Lily Brik. The active influence of the traditional
Jewish culture, both on the personal relationship of Lily and Osip
Brik and on their life tenets and behavioral stereotypes, is brought
into the discussion. The task of the author was not simply to sketch
an encompassing portrait of the heroine, who became one of the icons
of the twentieth century, but also to impart an understanding of her
actions, saturating the book with the most minute and fascinating
details. A special portion of this is devoted to Lily Brik's own
creations as a sculptress and film director, continuing in her own
way the tradition of the Russian avant-garde.
For more information and review copies please contact the author at
[log in to unmask] or me Michael Peltsman at [log in to unmask]
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