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The Embezzlers
Hardcover
General FictionLiterary Fiction
ISBN13: 9781025628127
Publisher: Tradd Street Press
Published: Feb 14 2026
Pages: 306
Weight: 1.33
Height: 0.75 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
The Embezzlers is a sharp, satirical novel that explores the absurdity of life in early Soviet Russia. The story follows two petty officials, Philip Stepanovich and young Vanechka, who impulsively embezzle a large sum of money from their state-run institution. What follows is a whirlwind, vodka-soaked odyssey across the country, as the unlikely pair attempts to evade detection while indulging in a series of increasingly bizarre and comical misadventures.
Valentin Kataev captures the disillusionment and chaos of the post-revolutionary era with wit and psychological insight. As the duo travels from Moscow to Leningrad and beyond, they encounter a diverse cast of characters that reflect the shifting social landscape of the 1920s. Part picaresque adventure and part biting social critique, The Embezzlers offers a vivid portrait of a society in transition, where greed, bureaucracy, and human folly collide.
This work remains a significant example of early Soviet prose, celebrated for its humor and its keen observations on the universal nature of temptation and the search for escape from the mundane.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
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