Catalog

Record Details

Catalog Search



Nothing is true and everything is possible : the surreal heart of the new Russia  Cover Image Book Book

Nothing is true and everything is possible : the surreal heart of the new Russia / Peter Pomerantsev.

Summary:

Nothing Is True and Everything is Possible is a journey into the glittering, surreal heart of 21st century Russia: into the lives of oligarchs convinced they are messiahs, professional killers with the souls of artists, Bohemian theater directors turned Kremlin puppet-masters, supermodel sects, post-modern dictators, and playboy revolutionaries. This is a world erupting with new money and new power, changing so fast it breaks all sense of reality, where life is seen as a whirling, glamorous masquerade where identities can be switched and all values are changeable. It is a completely new type of society where nothing is true and everything is possible -- yet it is also home to a new form of authoritarianism, built not on oppression but avarice and temptation. Peter Pomerantsev, ethnically Russian but raised in England, came to Moscow work in the fast-growing television and film industry. The job took him into every nook and corrupt cranny of the country: from meetings in smoky rooms with propaganda gurus through to distant mafia-towns in Siberia. As he becomes more successful in his career, he gets invited to the best parties, becomes friend to oligarchs and strippers alike, and grows increasingly uneasy as he is drawn into the mechanics of Putin's post-modern dictatorship. Meet Vitaliy, a Mafia boss proudly starring in a film about his own crimes; Zinaida, a Chechen prostitute who parties in Moscow while her sister is drawn towards becoming a Jihadi; and many more. These 21st century Russians grew up among Soviet propaganda they never believed in, became disillusioned with democracy after the fall of communism, and are now filled with a sense of cynicism and enlightenment. Pomerantsev captures the bling effervescence of oil-boom Russia, as well as the steadily deleterious effects of all this flash and cynicism on the country's social fabric. A long-nascent conflict is flaring up in Russia as a new generation of dissidents takes to the streets, determined to defy the Kremlin and fight for a society where beliefs and values actually count for something.

Record details

  • ISBN: 1610396006
  • ISBN: 9781610396004
  • Physical Description: ix, 243 pages ; 25 cm
  • Publisher: New York : Public Affairs, [2015]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (page 243)
Subject: Russia (Federation) > Social conditions > 1991-
Russia (Federation) > History > 1991- > Biography.
Interviews > Russia (Federation)
Social change > Russia (Federation)
Social problems > Russia (Federation)
Power (Social sciences) > Russia (Federation)
Corruption > Russia (Federation)
Authoritarianism > Social aspects > Russia (Federation)
Russia (Federation) > Economic conditions > 1991-

Available copies

  • 2 of 2 copies available at Sage Library System.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Circulation Modifier Status Due Date Courses
Columbia Gorge Community College Library Social Sciences Pomer 2015 (Text) 39705000022250 Main Collection Available -
The Dalles Wasco County Library 306.0947 POM (Text) 33892006206248 Non-Fiction Available -


Additional Resources