Richard Lourie is the critically acclaimed author of both fiction and nonfiction, including "The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin "and "Sakharov: A Biography." He has translated forty books and has served as Mikhail Gorbachev's translator for "The New York Times. "His articles and reviews have appeared in many influential publications, including "The New York Times, The Washington Post, "the "New Republic, "and "The Nation." He is currently a correspondent for "The Moscow Times."

"The Polish Complex is a powerful and engaging book, deomonstrating how in the less fortunate parts of the world history becomes a private obsession, and how the collective subconscious can determine the fates of both individuals and nations." -- New York Review of Books "Like such other anarchic spirits as Flann O'Brien and Celine, Konwicki has a lovely way of writing, which never clogs chaos with self-pity and bestows upon the direst pages sentences of casual magic... Konwicki is effortlessly witty." -- John Updike, The New Yorker "An impassioned, furious polemic on Poland's impossible condition. Konwicki... Writes like a man who has nothing to lose--and who wants to use that freedom for the primary and urgent task of speaking the raw, unmediated truth." -- New York Times Book Review