Common Places: Mythologies of Everyday Life in Russia (repost)

What is the "real Russia"? What is the relationship between national dreams and kitsch, between political and artistic utopia and everyday existence? Commonplaces of daily living would be perfect clues for those seeking to understand a culture. But in Russia, everyday life was hidden behind political, ideological or artistic screens, deemed irrelevant or inscrutable. And all who write big books on Russian life confess their failure to get properly inside Russia, to understand its "doublespeak". This book provides a view of Russia that is historically informed and filled with unexpected detail.