best examples of Russian comedy

[Derek C. Maus]

Some things that jump immediately to mind:

*  _The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin_ by
Vladimir Voinovich.

*  Just about anything by M. Saltykov-Shchedrin (his short tales teach
especially well, and bridge the gap between Gogol and Zoshchenko well)

*  For darker comedy (downright gloomy at times), Vasily Aksyonov's "The
Steel Bird" or, if you're feeling ambitious, _The Island of Crimea_ are
very approachable for Western readers

*  Personally, I find Sergei Dovlatov's _The Compromise_ to be a brilliant
comic satire, but I'd bet the farm it's out-of-print

* For something more contemporary, but dense, dense, dense for those not
familiar with contemporary Russian culture, Viktor Pelevin's _Homo
Zapiens_ is rife with Gogolian comic passages.

*  Many of Mayakovsky's dramatic works (and a good deal of his poetry)
work well to teach as absurdist satires in the service of the Revolution

Hope that's of some use.

           Derek

-------------------------------
         Derek C. Maus
         Assistant Professor of English
               and Literature Program Co-ordinator
         SUNY College at Potsdam

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