Benedict Erofeev and about Benedict Erofeev

Benedict Erofeev is one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of uncensored Russian literature. To the general reader, familiar with him through "Moscow — Petushki", it may seem that Venichka from the poem is indeed the real Erofeev. But is this really so? A definitive answer can be found neither in the works of his biographers nor in the memoirs of acquaintances and friends. The purpose of this collection is to present little-known pages of Erofeev's biography and to provide a snapshot of the most remarkable works about his life and creativity. The book includes materials that allow us to see the author of the famous poem from various perspectives: from an autobiography written by Erofeev at the age of sixteen, archival documents, his interviews and correspondence, to responses to his works by well-known writers (Victor Nekrasov, Vladimir Voinovich, Tatyana Tolstaya, Zinovy Zinik, Victor Pelevin, Dmitry Bykov) and articles by critics and literary scholars, some of which have already become philological classics. A significant portion of the materials and most of the photographs included in the collection are published for the first time. The compilers of the book are Oleg Lekmanov, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor at the School of Philology of the Faculty of Humanities at HSE University, and Ilya Simanovsky, a researcher of Benedict Erofeev's biography and creativity.