a Soviet memoir Draitser, Emil 1937- creator text biography wiu Madison, Wisconsin The University of Wisconsin Press 2021. 2021 monographic eng

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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. Emil Draitser. Draitser, Emil 1937- Jews, Polish Soviet Union Biography Jewish journalists Soviet Union Biography Jewish authors Soviet Union Biography PG3549.D7Z46 2021 9780299329006 (hbk.) 0299329003 2020010782 210507 on1152361662