“Irwin Weil has written a vibrant, nostalgic, strikingly sweet account of a life deeply enmeshed in Jewish, American, and above all Russian culture. Anecdote after heartfelt anecdote, he offers portraits of exemplary incidents and famous people, from Renato Poggiolo and Philip Rahv to Kornei Chukovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich. When others engage in ideological quarrel, we watch Irv spread good will. By the sheer power of warmth and charm, he passes unscathed through morally fraught situations. For those in the field of Russian Studies, the memoir will powerfully evoke what it was like in decades gone by." —Gary Saul Morson, Frances Hooper Professor of the Arts and Humanities, Northwestern University

• Preface AcknowledgmentsEditor’s Note1. The Lives of Sidney and Florence WeilAncestrySidney WeilFlorence LevyJoining the ArmyAfter the WarThe Roaring TwentiesFaith and FamilyGreat DepressionBaseball PlayersThe MoveLife InsuranceRaising MoneyZionists and EducationThe Horrors of World War II and Life AfterBaseball versus AcademiaRabbi HellerJewish TraditionsDad’s Greatest PleasuresLater Years of Life2. Early Years and Education of Irwin WeilIntroductionNamesakeGrowing UpEarly School YearsVivian’s Family BackgroundMusical BackgroundAdolescent Politics and ExperiencesFirst Impressions of RussiaFlyingUniversity of CincinnatiUniversity of ChicagoExperiences with Russian History and LiteratureLife in the TheaterMarriage to VivianKulischerHarvardBrandeisNorthwestern3. Entry into the Soviet UnionGoing to the Soviet UnionA Welcome to RememberKGBLiterary EndeavorsTrip to LeningradMalyshev and AlekseevJewish Father and Son in LeningradFirsthand Learning ExperiencesAunt OlgaBack in the United StatesDays at Brandeis UniversityReturning to the Soviet Union—1963Vitya, My Roommate and AdvisorThe Search for ChukovskyMeeting ChukovskyDiscussions in Chukovsky’s HouseBialikAdditional Thoughts about Gorky4. Social and Political Reform in the Soviet UnionEvtushenkoNot Discussing PoliticsKhrushchevKennedyJudge NotOvcharenkoMarina Rafailovna Kaul and Rosalia Semyonovna GinzburgBeing CautiousAmerican Association of Teachers of Slavic and East EuropeanLanguages (AATSEEL)American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR)Changes in Soviet PoliticsCold War RhetoricPrejudices and PrivilegesFavorable AspectsNewsShostakovichProkofievNabokovAfanasyevChange5. Letters from the USSRTues. Sept. 6, 1960Wed. Sept. 7, 1960Thurs. Sept. 8, 1960Tues. Sept. 13, 1960Index