That's from the Paris Review."Note to historical novelists: the Stalinist era is severely underrepresented in fiction, even though it was a demented hellscape whose horrors practically beg to be dramatized. Saul Austerlitz makes the case...."
If yukking it up with Beria and the boys isn't your cuppa chai they also offer-up a deranged Norwegian:
Look, normally I don’t go in for this type of thing, but come on: this is John Milton made of Stilton. Show a little respect, people. “I fell in love with John Stilton,” his maker, Christian Kjelstrup, says. “In Norway, Milton and Stilton are treated the same: both are enjoyed only by connoisseurs. The difference between John Milton and John Stilton is the latter is fat, greasy and sticky. I had a hard time making him. The fridge in my office now serves as his temporary mausoleum; I suspect his odor will survive him, perhaps even the fridge.”
![John Stilton: based on the pun I thought was the funniest (there were so many …). He was hard to make and even harder to photograph.](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/25f409a806f0dda48a69aff4072f1fec9f238dc6/0_0_720_960/master/720.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=7dafdabd7f507e56b2b831e49250cc97)
Must be something about living north of the 55th parallel. And speaking of the Scots...
Just kidding, the next post stars Bill Gates and I think his people came from south of the border.