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Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot
Masha Gessen
€ 13.99
€ 10.69
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Description for Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot
Paperback. The story of Pussy Riot, punk icons and Russian dissenters, and the untold story of their infamous trial and on-going global significance Num Pages: 320 pages. BIC Classification: 1DVUA; 3JMG; AVGU; AVH; JPWF. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 198 x 132 x 20. Weight in Grams: 220.
On February 21st 2012, five members of an obscure feminist post-punk collective called Pussy Riot staged a performance in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Dressed in their trademark brightly coloured dresses and balaclavas, the women performed their song 'Punk Prayer - Mother of God, Chase Putin Away!' in front of the altar. The performance lasted only 40 seconds but it resulted in two-year prison sentences for three of the performers - and has turned Pussy Riot into one of the most well-known and important protest movements of the last five years. This necessary and timely book is an account of the Pussy Riot protest, the ensuing global support movement, and the tangled and controversial trial of the band members. It explores the status of dissent in Russia, the roots of the group and their adoption - or appropriation - by wider collectives, feminist groups and music icons. Masha Gessen has unique access to the band and those closest to them. Her unrivalled understanding of the Russian protest movement makes her the ideal writer to document and explain the rage, the beauty and the phenomenon that is Pussy Riot.
Product Details
Publisher
Granta Books
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2014
Condition
New
Number of Pages
320
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9781847089342
SKU
V9781847089342
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 5 to 9 working days
Ref
99-99
About Masha Gessen
MASHA GESSEN is a journalist and the author of several books including The Man Without a Face. They have contributed to the New Republic, the New Statesman, Granta, Slate and Vanity Fair. Gessen lives in Moscow.
Reviews for Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot
Lively and sympathetic... A vivid account of the three women's arrest and then the harrowing absurdity of their trial that summer... Keenly observed and often moving
Tony Wood
Guardian
Powerful... This is scrupulous and sensitive journalism
AD Miller
Daily Telegraph
Immensely readable... It brilliantly traces the evolution of Pussy Riot
Angus Roxburgh
Mail on Sunday
Gessen's sharp pen draws a caustic picture of the show trials in the summer of 2012 [and] prison correspondence provides a vivid picture of the continuing awfulness of the Russian penal system... Valuable
Economist
Powerful... this is a hotly anticipated book by one of Russia's most influential opposition journalists. It's a pacy telling of what is an extraordinary story
Carole Cadwalladr
Observer
A fine, full, deeply sympathetic portrait of a particular kind of courage, a punk dissidence that is at once frail and mighty
John Lloyd
Financial Times
A powerful indictment of the return to Soviet-era tactics to silence dissent... Enlightening [and] poignant
Lucy Popescu
Tablet
Thorough... Much here will be new to the reader. All of it is infuriating
New York Times
[It] is written in a dry, raised-eyebrow deadpan, which allows post-Soviet repression to indict itself and adeptly captures the bluster and headiness of activist idealism.... Moving
LA Times
[An] angry, clear and intimate look at the women behind Pussy Riot. Gessen's portraits are touching and a little sad
Ben Judah
Sunday Times
Gessen pulls together a psychological portrait of the three ring-leaders
Arifa Akbar
Independent
Gripping... a lucid account of the history of the group and their aims
Andrzej Lukowski
Metro
Gessen's clinical and thorough depiction of Pussy Riot is as personal as it is political
Una Mullally
Irish Times
Vividly told
Maria Alekhina
Sunday Herald
You really need to read this in-depth look at what it means be young, fearless and angry in the new Russia
Twin Factory
A solid piece of journalism... It reveals [Pussy Riot] as clever, funny, brave and idealistic. And it reveals Russia as a country still held back by a giant anchor dug into its Soviet past
Giles Whittel
The Times
Gessen makes a forceful case for Pussy Riot... As a Russian-American steeped in the same ideas that inspired Pussy Riot, [she] is a useful guide
Daniel Trilling
New Statesman
[This] offers an engaging and thoughtful exegesis of the events and personalities behind Pussy Riot. It is a lively addition to the canon of Russian prison literature. Gessen presents a scathing portrait of Putin-era judicial system
Fernanda Eberstadt
TLS
Tony Wood
Guardian
Powerful... This is scrupulous and sensitive journalism
AD Miller
Daily Telegraph
Immensely readable... It brilliantly traces the evolution of Pussy Riot
Angus Roxburgh
Mail on Sunday
Gessen's sharp pen draws a caustic picture of the show trials in the summer of 2012 [and] prison correspondence provides a vivid picture of the continuing awfulness of the Russian penal system... Valuable
Economist
Powerful... this is a hotly anticipated book by one of Russia's most influential opposition journalists. It's a pacy telling of what is an extraordinary story
Carole Cadwalladr
Observer
A fine, full, deeply sympathetic portrait of a particular kind of courage, a punk dissidence that is at once frail and mighty
John Lloyd
Financial Times
A powerful indictment of the return to Soviet-era tactics to silence dissent... Enlightening [and] poignant
Lucy Popescu
Tablet
Thorough... Much here will be new to the reader. All of it is infuriating
New York Times
[It] is written in a dry, raised-eyebrow deadpan, which allows post-Soviet repression to indict itself and adeptly captures the bluster and headiness of activist idealism.... Moving
LA Times
[An] angry, clear and intimate look at the women behind Pussy Riot. Gessen's portraits are touching and a little sad
Ben Judah
Sunday Times
Gessen pulls together a psychological portrait of the three ring-leaders
Arifa Akbar
Independent
Gripping... a lucid account of the history of the group and their aims
Andrzej Lukowski
Metro
Gessen's clinical and thorough depiction of Pussy Riot is as personal as it is political
Una Mullally
Irish Times
Vividly told
Maria Alekhina
Sunday Herald
You really need to read this in-depth look at what it means be young, fearless and angry in the new Russia
Twin Factory
A solid piece of journalism... It reveals [Pussy Riot] as clever, funny, brave and idealistic. And it reveals Russia as a country still held back by a giant anchor dug into its Soviet past
Giles Whittel
The Times
Gessen makes a forceful case for Pussy Riot... As a Russian-American steeped in the same ideas that inspired Pussy Riot, [she] is a useful guide
Daniel Trilling
New Statesman
[This] offers an engaging and thoughtful exegesis of the events and personalities behind Pussy Riot. It is a lively addition to the canon of Russian prison literature. Gessen presents a scathing portrait of Putin-era judicial system
Fernanda Eberstadt
TLS