01904cam a2200265 i 4500 on1152361662 OCoLC ta 210507s2021 wiua s000 0aeng c 2020010782 9780299329006 (hbk.) 0299329003 (OCoLC)1152361662 (OCoLC)1225801272 PG3549.D7Z46 2021 Draitser, Emil, 1937- In the jaws of the crocodile : a Soviet memoir / Emil Draitser. Madison, Wisconsin : The University of Wisconsin Press, 2021. xiii, 262 p. : ill. "Emil Draitser dreamed of becoming a writer. Born to a working-class Jewish family in the USSR on the eve of World War II, he came of age during the Brezhnev era, often considered the nadir of Soviet culture. Bored with an engineering job, he found refuge in writing, attracting the attention of a Moscow editor who encouraged him to try his hand at satire. He spent the next decade contributing to Crocodile, the major Party-sponsored magazine known for its sharp-tongued essays and caustic cartoons. After he got in trouble for criticizing an important Soviet official, he began weighing the heavy decision of whether to emigrate. In this captivating memoir, Draitser explores what it means to be a satirist in a country lacking freedom of expression. His experience provides a window into the lives of a generation of artists who were allowed to poke fun and make readers laugh, as long as they toed a narrow, state-approved line. In the Jaws of the Crocodile also includes several of Draitser's wry pieces translated into English for the first time." --Amazon.com. Draitser, Emil, 1937- Jews, Polish Soviet Union Biography. Jewish journalists Soviet Union Biography. Jewish authors Soviet Union Biography. lcc BK 0 0 0 0 PNLIB PNLIB GEN 2021-06-17 PG3549.D7Z46 2021 PNLIB21061854 2021-06-17 2021-06-17 BK 2041 2041