The Naked World

By Irina Mashinski,

Book cover of The Naked World: A Tale with Verse

Book description

The Naked World begins with Mashinski’s birth:“Stalin had been dead for 5 years 1 month and 4 days.” The concluding notes tell us that currently “38% of Russians consider Stalin the greatest man in history.” The eerily exact figures underline the survivor’s dilemma: do I live in the past and…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Naked World as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Part poetry, part flash fiction; part memoir, part imagination; part history, part fantasy. The Naked World is like a dream, images, and snatches of phrases wrestle with fact and trauma. It’s a story of survival, it’s a story of suffering. It’s a story of immigration, it’s a story of remaining stuck. It’s ephemeral and it stays with you. Did it happen to you? To someone else? To all of us?

Want books like The Naked World?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Naked World.

Browse books like The Naked World

Book cover of Divide Me by Zero
Book cover of Something Unbelievable
Book cover of Mother Country

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,586

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the Soviet Union, folklore, and imagination?

The Soviet Union 380 books
Folklore 381 books
Imagination 107 books