The Drawing Textbook update

[Ya Sam]

'The multilayered chronicle begins in the era of former Soviet leader 
Mikhail Gorbachev, then goes on to create an epic picture of Russia through 
the eyes of one artist and his friends and family. The book pans out to 
places such as London and Paris and brings in a multitude of lesser 
characters -- self-serving intellectuals, slimy art dealers, dark-hearted 
oligarchs and politicians, many of them recognizable -- all to help tell the 
story of Russia falling apart.

Kantor saves his most savage criticism and most bitter disappointment for 
the West, as both a reality and an ideal. Leaders such as President Bush, 
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Italian prime minister Silvio 
Berlusconi are pilloried.

The book landed like the brick it is on the desks of Moscow's literary 
elite. It sold 1,000 copies the day it was released last April. Its first 
run of 5,000 copies sold out in five weeks, and the book has since sold at 
least another 5,000 -- very respectable numbers in Russia. It is now being 
translated for publication in several other countries, including the United 
States.' ...

'Initial letters from publishers said he was the new Tolstoy, according to 
Kantor. Later letters had a different tone. "They said, 'Let's go to a 
restaurant and have a good meal, and then we will have a good political 
editor undo all these untidy mistakes about Russian leaders and our 
parliament.' " ...

'Kantor, whose paintings and etchings can be found in the State Tretyakov 
Gallery in Moscow and the British Museum, plans to keep writing. His current 
project is a war novel set in Europe between 1914 and 1945.

"For me, there is no border between my painting and my writing," he said. 
"It is all one process. I just write longer."'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602001_pf.html

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE! 
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/