Less Than One

This collection of essays thrusts Brodsky--heretofore known more for his poetry and translations--into the forefront of the "Third Wave" of Russian emigre writers. His insights into the works of Dostoyevsky, Mandelstam, Platonov, as well as non-Russian poets Auden, Cavafy and Montale are brilliant. While the Western popularity of many other Third Wavers has been stunted by thei...

This collection of essays thrusts Brodsky--heretofore known more for his poetry and translations--into the forefront of the "Third Wave" of Russian emigre writers. His insights into the works of Dostoyevsky, Mandelstam, Platonov, as well as non-Russian poets Auden, Cavafy and Montale are brilliant. While the Western popularity of many other Third Wavers has been stunted by their inability to write in English, Brodsky consumed the language to attain a "closer proximity" to poets such as Auden. The book, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award, opens and closes with revealing autobiographical essay.

约瑟夫·布罗茨基（1940—1996），俄裔美籍著名诗人、散文家，生于列宁格勒（现圣彼得堡）一个犹太家庭，15岁辍学谋生，很早开始写诗并发表于苏联地下刊物。1964年受苏联政府当局审讯，因“社会寄生虫”罪获刑五年，并被流放至西伯利亚。1972年被苏联政府当局强 制遣送离境，随后前往美国定居，先在密歇根大学任驻校诗人，继而在其他大学任访问教授。1986年荣获美国国家书评奖，1987年荣获诺贝尔文学奖，1991年获选“美国桂冠诗人”。其代表作品有诗集《诗选》、《词类》、《致乌拉尼亚》，散文集《小于一》、《论悲伤与理智》等。