It's Me, Eddie
 | |
| Author | Eduard Limonov |
|---|---|
| Original title | Это я — Эдичка |
| Genre | Roman a clef |
| Published | 1979 |
| Publication place | France |
It's Me, Eddie (Russian: Это я — Эдичка, romanized: Eto ya — Edichka) is the first novel by Russian writer and politician Eduard Limonov. The novel was written in New York in 1976 and published in Paris in 1979. When it was first published in Russia in 1991, it sold over a million copies.[1]
Plot
[edit]The plot is fictional but based on real experiences Limonov faced during his immigration to New York City.
The protagonist is a man named Eddichka, a Russian immigrant in New York City. His wife has just divorced him, and he is collecting welfare whilst working at a restaurant. Eddichka attends Trotskyist meetings. The text of the novel uses obscenities and naturalistic descriptions of explicit sexual scenes. Eddichka has a series of negative sexual experiences with women, but finds more fulfillment when he starts to have sex with men.[2]
Publishing history
[edit]The novel was repeatedly published in Russian, French, and English. The novel has been called "the quintessential novel of the third wave emigration".[3]
Reception
[edit]Zakhar Prilepin offered effusive praise to It's Me, Eddie, stating that this is "a genius book about human freedom, love, passion ... I was simply killed by it".[4] Prominent writer Dmitry Bykov described it as a confessional and hysterical book, although The Diary of a Loser is the more important artistic achievement of Limonov (“even more poetry ... in some things more frank and subtle”).[5] The esteemed writer and intellectual Joseph Brodsky, who composed the advertising text for the cover of the American edition, noted in private conversations that Limonov's confession is nothing new in the context of American literature. [citation needed]
The novel was mentioned in Adam Curtis's 2021 BBC documentary series Can't Get You Out of My Head.
References
[edit]- ^ Gessen, Keith (2013-09-16). "The parable of a fascist writer. - Slate Magazine". Slate.com. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^ "It's Me, Eddie". Kirkus Reviews. 1 July 1983. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ Ryan-Hayes, Karen (January 1993). "Limonov's "It's Me, Eddie" and the Autobiographical Mode | Ryan-Hayes | The Carl Beck Papers in Russian and East European Studies". The Carl Beck Papers in Russian and East European Studies (1004). Carlbeckpapers.pitt.edu: 39. doi:10.5195/cbp.1993.55. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^ "Писатель Эдуард Лимонов отмечает 65-летний юбилей". 22 February 2008.
- ^ "Дмитрий Быков — Один — Эхо Москвы, 04.12.2015".
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