Mashinka and Velik

       In the Central European Forum's Salon Viktor Erofeyev writes about A suicidal novel, as in Russia:

The most controversial and unexpected bestseller of the current publishing season is a novel entitled Mashinka and Velik [Машинка и Велик].

       The author's name is given as Natan Dubovitsky [Натан Дубовицкий], but:

Most Russian journalists and literary critics agree that this name is a nom de plume, concealing one of Russia's top officials, the ideological mastermind behind Putin's regime and currently Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, 48-year-old Vladislav Surkov.

       Erofeyev finds that in the book: "The angry unmasker, applying the techniques of the grotesque and theatre of the absurd, howls in despair."
       In any case, this piece (and the book) suggests the Russian situation is rather bleak.