Conversations with Stalin

by Eleanor Antin

Eleanor Antin's coming-of-age memoir is a smart, no-holds-barred black comedy in the picaresque coming-of-age tradition of Holden Caulfield, Huck Finn, and the irrepressible Dorothy on the road to Oz. Her stand-up, punch, and inventive style allows her audiences to enjoy any or all of her "meetings" with Joseph Stalin in Central Park.

243 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2013

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleanor Antin is a performance / installation / conceptual artist from the Bronx region and other half of avant-garde poet David (Antin). She also wrote this pseudo-autobiographical caper about a young lady (named Eleanor)’s adventures in the Bronx region among her Polish Stalinist mother and upbringing as a Communist. At the end of each chapter, Eleanor engages in a conversation with Stalin who offers advice befitting his despotic beliefs, plunging her into further eschatological confusion. This is a small-sized, fast-paced, anecdotal-in-tone work mixing some hilarious and traumatic moments alongside the fantastical. Also seek to explore some of her playful-sounding and audacious artworks in the near future (note to self).

[Jenni Link · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, frank, funny, surreal.