''Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia'' is a 2014 book by
Peter Pomerantsev
Peter Pomerantsev (; born Pyotr Igorevich Pomerantsev, russian: Пётр Игоревич Померанцев, label=none; born 1977) is a Soviet-born British journalist, author and TV producer. He is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Global ...
about 21st century Russian history.
Background
Miriam Elder of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that the "
prism
Prism usually refers to:
* Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light
* Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron
Prism may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...
" that Pomerantsev perceived the subject through was his previous career in
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
, to imply the lack of authenticity of Russian institutions.
Work
The author recounts his experiences in Russia when he worked there in the reality television field in the 2000s.
Elder describes the work as "Part reportage and part memoir".
[ The author also includes stories of various figures who succeeded or faced hardships in that time period.][
Pomerantsev only occasionally explicitly mentions the name of ]Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
. Elder argued that this strategy "can be taken as a suggestion that we focus too much on him, that he’s so big he no longer requires discussion — or that we do not and cannot ever know who he truly is, so why even bother?"[
Tony Wood of '']The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' wrote that the book shows that the "roots" of the psychological order was "the tumult and delirium of the country’s post-Soviet transformations".
Reception
Megan McDonogh of the ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' wrote that the work is "gripping and unsettling".
See also
* '' This Is Not Propaganda'', 2019 book by the author
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
2014 non-fiction books
English-language books
PublicAffairs books
Books about Russia
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