Notes From Russia: Hand-Made Street Notices

by Fuel, Damon Murray (Editor), Stephen Sorrell (Editor)

The world of Russian public notices is fascinating, bizarre and saturated in "An old woman. Left home and has not returned. Small, hunchbacked. a blue dress, red wool cardigan, a white handkerchief with red flowers on her head, grey slippers on her feet. Does not have memory." The authors and readers of these usually handwritten notices are members of Russia's underclass, made visible by these acts of public address which so often go unread. In this secret economy of exchange and communication, you can swap a voucher for an airplane or help to find a missing earring lost "during the fireworks on the Day of Cosmonauts." All over Russia, all sorts of surfaces, stationary or mobile, have been papered over with such notices. The folklorist, lexicographer and contributor to the related publications Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia Volumes I and II, Alexei Plutser-Sarno, has been collecting these public notices from all over Russia for many years. Notes From Russia features the highlights of Plutser-Sarno's collection, which, combined with his commentaries, tells an alternative story of recent Russian culture. Designed as part of Fuel's acclaimed Russian series of books, and printed on an unusual mix of white and brown craft paper, Notes From Russia is a moving and vital contribution to the documentation of vernacular graphics.

Genres: Russia

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sara G · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is a fun and enlightening book about the notices posted around 1990s Russia and what they indicate about people and society. There are some laugh-out-loud funny sections - for example, an extended aside about toilets - but I also feel as though I understand this slice of humanity a lot better now. Clearly the author put a lot of passion into this project - it’s the culmination of years of work. I read this slowly, parachuting into it from time to time on pool days, but it was always easy enough to pick back up where I left off. A friend of mine who emigrated from Russia gave this to me as a gift, and I can’t wait to discuss it with him and loan it out to our other friends.

[Joshua Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this on a whim at a barnes and nobel of all places, really neat book. Not really sure how to classify it other than pretty awesome

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun. Public notes and graffiti as found art. Surreal. Confirms that the mark of any type revolution is an excess of words.