Black Snow

by Mikhail Bulgakov, Roger Cockrell (Translator)

Overview

A masterpiece of black comedy by the author of The Master and Margarita.

When Maxudov's novel fails, he attempts suicide. When that fails, he dramatizes his novel. To Maxudov's surprise-and the resentment of literary Moscow-the play is accepted by the legendary Independent Theater, and Maxudov plunges into a vortex of inflated egos. Each rehearsal sees more and more sparks flying higher and higher . . . and less and less chance of poor Maxudov's play ever being performed. Black Snow is the ultimate backstage novel and a brilliant satire on Mikhail Bulgakov's ten-year love-hate relationship with Stanislavsky, Method acting, and the Moscow Arts Theater.

After a lifetime spent struggling against censorship, not least in the theater, Bulgakov died in 1940, not long after completing his masterpiece, The Master and Margarita. None of his major fiction was published during his lifetime.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780795348273
Publisher:	RosettaBooks
Publication date:	10/01/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	182
Sales rank:	86,956
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) qualified as a doctor but became a professional writer in 1919. He was asked by the Moscow Arts Theatre to turban his novel, The White Guard, into a play. At first delighted, he was subsequently horrified by the cuts and alterations demanded by the company and the censor. Nevertheless he went on to write many more plays, becoming arguably the most important Soviet playwright of the period. Keith Dewhurst was born in Oldham and studied at Cambridge University. In addition to his writing for stage and screen, he has been a yarn tester in a cotton mill, a football jourbanalist (touring with Manchester United during the 1998-99 season), an arts columnist for the Guardian and a Television Presenter. He has written 16 stage pays, including 'Rafferty's Chant', 'Pirates', 'Brecht in 20', 'Corunna!', 'Kidnapped', 'The Miser', 'The Magic Island', 'The Bomb In Brewery Street', 'One Short', 'Luggage', 'Black Snow' and 'Animals of Farthing Wood' many of which were premiered by the English Stage Company at the Royal Court. He has also written 18 TV screenplays and 2 films, 'The Empty Beach' and 'The Land Girls'.

What People are Saying About This

Craig Raine

Bulgakov is the first magical realist.

From the Publisher

"A masterpiece of black comedy.” —The Irish Times

“The novel moves with mad exuberance.” —The Independent

Editorial Reviews

Bulgakov is regarded as the Soviet writer who made the strongest impact on twentieth-century Western fiction. -- The Irish Times

Eileen Battersby

Published in 1967, 1975, and 1968, respectively, these display Bulgakov's satiric eye on Russian life.

Library Journal

"A masterpiece of black comedy.” —The Irish Times

“The novel moves with mad exuberance.” —The Independent

From the Publisher