Ilf and Petrov's American Road Trip

In 1935, well into the era of communism, Russian satirical writers Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov came to the US posing as special correspondents for the Russian newspaper "Pravda". They drove cross-country and back, recording images of American life through the lens of a Leica camera and humorous impressions of Americana in their notebooks.

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In 1935, well into the era of communism, Russian satirical writers Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov came to the U.S posing as special correspondents for the Russian newspaper "Pravda". They drove cross-country and back on a ten-week trip, recording images of American life through the lens of a Leica camera and humorous impressions of Americana in their notebooks. When they returned home, they published their work in "Ogonek", the Soviet equivalent of "Time" magazine, and later in the book "Odnoetazhnaia Amerika" (Single-Storied America). This wonderful lost work - filled with wry observations, biting opinions, and telling photographs - is now collected in "Ilf and Petrov's American Road Trip", the first English publication.