[close] Don't Die before You're Dead mingles fiction with autobiography, taking as its backdrop, the dramatic events surrounding the abortive coup of 1991 -an act which Yevtushenko views as the pathetic last struggle of communism's cooling corpse. He chroncles the lives of twelve unforgettable characters - some real and some fictional. In the telling of their stories Yevtushenko creates a rich tapestry of intertwined lives; an astonishing and vivid portrait of the Russian soul in a time of change and upheaval. (1995) [close]