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Alexandra Popoff

Goodreads Author

Born

Moscow, Russian Federation

Website

http://www.russianliteratureandbiography.com/

Twitter

@AlexandraPopoff

Genre

Biography, Nonfiction

Member Since

August 2010

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ALEXANDRA POPOFF is a former Moscow journalist and Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow. She is an expert on Russian cultural history and the author of five literary biographies, including the award-winning VASILY GROSSMAN (2019) and SOPHIA TOLSTOY (2010). Her book THE WIVES became a Wall Street Journal best non-fiction title for 2012. Popoff's latest book is a concise interpretive biography of AYN RAND ( Yale UP, Jewish Lives, 2024).

VASILY GROSSMAN AND THE SOVIET CENTURY won the 2019 Canadian Jewish Literary award for Biography, became a Finalist in the 2019 National Jewish Book Awards, Biography category, and was long-listed for the 2019 Cundill History Prize.

Popoff has written for The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, National Post, ...more

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Alexandra Popoff’s books

Average rating: 4.12 · 639 ratings · 124 reviews · 6 distinct works • Similar authors

	Sophia Tolstoy: A Biography 4.16 avg rating — 200 ratings — published 2010 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century 4.32 avg rating — 186 ratings — published 2019 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wives: The Women Behind Russia's Literary Giants 3.93 avg rating — 202 ratings — published 2012 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tolstoy's False Disciple 4.15 avg rating — 33 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ayn Rand: Writing a Gospel of Success 3.72 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2024 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	As esposas: As mulheres nos bastidores da vida e obra de prodígios da literatura russa 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Alexandra Popoff's Blog

My Response to Gary S. Morson's attack on Ayn Rand

This is my response to Gary Morson’s critique of my biography Ayn Rand: Writing a Gospel of Success. My letter appeared in the 2025 winter issue of Jewish Review of Books, under the title “Life and Capital”.

An amusing quote attributed to Reverend Sydney Smith and later appropriated by Oscar Wilde says: “I never read a book before reviewing it: it prejudices a man so.”

This fully applies to Gary Mor Read more of this blog post »

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Published on June 24, 2025 12:16 • Tags: alexandra-popoff, atlas-shrugged, ayn-rand, gary-morson, goddess-of-the-market, jennifer-burns, jewish, writing-a-gospel-of-success

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Looking for Trouble

by Virginia Cowles

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Nov 30, 2025 07:15PM

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Defying Hitler

by Sebastian Haffner

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Alexandra Popoff voted for Mark Twain as Readers' Favorite History & Biography in the Final Round of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards. Cast Your Vote
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Alexandra Popoff is currently reading Looking for Trouble by Virginia Cowles	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 30, 2025 07:15PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Looking for Trouble by Virginia Cowles. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Looking for Trouble by Virginia Cowles <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alexandra Popoff is currently reading Defying Hitler by Sebastian Haffner	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Alexandra Popoff rated a book really liked it The Plague by Albert Camus	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I read The Plague in Laura Marris' recent translation (I found it unsatisfying) and in Stuart Gilbert's imaginative and inspiring interpretation published in 1969. Stricken with bubonic plague, the Algerian town of Oran is quarantined, sealed from the ...more
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Alexandra Popoff voted for Mark Twain as Readers' Favorite History & Biography in the Opening Round of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards. Cast Your Vote
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Alexandra Popoff rated a book it was amazing The First Man by Albert Camus	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Alexandra Popoff rated a book it was amazing Letters by Saul Bellow	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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