Good Stalin

The novel Good Stalin is inspired by Erofeevs experience growing up amidst the Soviet political hierarchy. His father a staunch Stalinist who has dedicated his life and soul to the party begins as Stalins personal interpreter and rises rapidly to the top of the political ladder and into the leaders inner circle. The book reflects the familys prestigious - and yet precarious - position as members of the nomenklatura. In one memorable scene the main character Victor recalls how he would walk past the Kremlin as a child and comment to friends thats where my father works - he and Comrade Stalin. However unquestioning devotion to the Communist Party does not come to young Viktor so easily as it had for his father: growing up he begins to write stories classified as obscene literature by the party. Like Erofeev himself Victor gets involved in the world of dissident literature violating Soviet censorship laws and being expelled from the Writers Union. His actions result in the end of his fathers career just at the point when he hoped to be appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Erofeevs autobiographical novel provides both a childs and an adults perspective on several decades of Soviet history. The book documents not only the emergence of a prominent writer but also looks at the evolution of the Soviet dissident movement amongst the nomenklatura.