<p>No other contemporary novel provides such clear insight into the Russian mind and way of life as Andrei Bitov's <em>Pushkin House</em>. First published in the United States in 1987 and highly praised for its inventiveness, <em>Pushkin House</em> survives as a literary masterpiece, even after the fall of Communism.</p><p>Though the novel's focus is a love affair between Lyova and Faina,the novel's true subject is an investigation of the corruption ofSoviet intellectual life and history. Working within many of theconfines imposed upon him during the Soviet regime, Bitov ingeniouslydraws upon Russian literary models, especially that of Nabokov, inorder to parody and satirize the stifling society about him, as well asRussian literary tradition.</p>