“Vladimir Gandelsman, poet of Leningrad and then of New York City, has a lion’s presence but a classical style. His formal mastery is a powerful and sophisticated lens that sharpens the gritty realism in many of his works. The translators of this volume—two of them also émigré poets—approach his works from a variety of directions, rendering both prose and poetry with energetic sympathy. Very much worth the attention of readers and lovers of literature!” – Sibelan Forrester, co-editor, Russian Silver Age Poetry: Texts and Contexts.

“Vladimir Gandelsman’s poetry brings to its reader a unique combination of mastery and revelation. He develops the tradition of Russian modernism into a unique world of elegant sound and desperate howl about the tragedy of our time, and that peculiar kind of despair brought upon an individual by the condition of loneliness and honesty. Unique beauty is united in this verse with irony and playfulness: Gandelsman's poetry is heartbreaking and healing at the same time, filled with the bitter energy of exile and its discoveries.” – Polina Barskova, author, Besieged Leningrad: Aesthetic Responses to Urban Disaster.

“Vladimir Gandelsman is one of the few contemporary Russian poets who productively develops classical traditions. His work is like a gold reserve that can be called upon in the event of a default. Gandelsman could be called a poet for the literature scholar, but he is too cheerful and in love with life for that. He could be called a St. Petersburg poet–if he did not live at the other end of the world... But poetry is made of contradictions, and that works well in Gandelsman’s case.” – Maria Galina, poet, writer, and literary critic, Odessa, Ukraine.

Signed by the author.