The Master and Margarita

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Grove Press, 1987 - Fiction - 402 pages

A "soaring, dazzling novel" (The New York Times), Mirra Ginsburg's critically-acclaimed translation of one of the most important and best-loved modern classics in world literature

The Master and Margarita has been captivating readers around the world ever since its first publication in 1967. Written during Stalin's time in power but suppressed in the Soviet Union for decades, Bulgakov's masterpiece is an ironic parable on power and its corruption, on good and evil, and on human frailty and the strength of love.

In The Master and Margarita, the Devil himself pays a visit to Soviet Moscow. Accompanied by a retinue that includes the fast-talking, vodka-drinking, giant tomcat Behemoth, he sets about creating a whirlwind of chaos that soon involves the beautiful Margarita and her beloved, a distraught writer known only as the Master, and even Jesus Christ and Pontius Pilate. The Master and Margarita combines fable, fantasy, political satire, and slapstick comedy to create a wildly entertaining and unforgettable tale that is commonly considered the greatest novel to come out of the Soviet Union. It appears in this edition in a translation by Mirra Ginsburg that was judged "brilliant" by Publishers Weekly.

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About the author (1987)

Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) was one of postrevolutionary Russia's foremost authors. In the 1920s his work was suppressed by the Stalinist authorities; only with his rehabilitation, beginning in 1962, was much of it published. His other works include Heart of a Dog, The Fatal Eggs, and The White Guard. Mirra Ginsburg was born in Bobruisk, Byelorussia in 1909. As a child, she learned to love books. Folk tales were her favorite type of story, especially those from her native country. She wanted to share the richness, wit, and beauty of the tales with American children and did with her translation work. She died on December 26, 2000.

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