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And Time Was No More: Essential Stories and Memories
The finest work by the great Russian writer Teffi, in a new selection by the acclaimed Robert Chandler
Teffi's literary genius made her a star in pre-revolutionary Russia, beloved by Tsar Nicholas II and Vladimir Lenin alike. An extremely funny writer with a scathing critical eye, she was also capable of Chekhovian subtlety and depth of character.
Ranging from humorous sketches of a vanished Russia to ironic, melancholy evocations of post-revolutionary exile, And Time Was No More showcases the full range of Teffi's gifts. A new selection by the celebrated Robert Chandler, it includes previously untranslated stories alongside more famous work, demonstrating the enduring freshness of one of the great wits of Russian literature.
Teffi's literary genius made her a star in pre-revolutionary Russia, beloved by Tsar Nicholas II and Vladimir Lenin alike. An extremely funny writer with a scathing critical eye, she was also capable of Chekhovian subtlety and depth of character.
Ranging from humorous sketches of a vanished Russia to ironic, melancholy evocations of post-revolutionary exile, And Time Was No More showcases the full range of Teffi's gifts. A new selection by the celebrated Robert Chandler, it includes previously untranslated stories alongside more famous work, demonstrating the enduring freshness of one of the great wits of Russian literature.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 25, 2024
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About the author
Teffi
112 books70 followersTeffi (Тэффи) was a Russian humorist writer. Teffi is a pseudonym. Her real name was Nadezhda Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya (Надежда Александровна Лoхвицкая); after her marriage Buchinskaya (Бучинская). Together with Arkady Averchenko she was one of the most prominent authors of the Satiricon magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 20, 2025
I took this on without realising I had read half of it before, as it is selected stories from her other collections.
It did however, lead me to seeking out two of her better known collections that I haven't read in full yet, Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea and Other Worlds: Peasants, Pilgrims, Spirits, Saints.
Though I don't think that the stories selected here (from the books I have read) are her best ones, the book still provides an excellent introduction to the writer, her full name Nadezhda Alexandrovna Teffi, who lived 1872 - 1952. Her writing style is distinguished by two extremes, the serious and the satirical, which she alternated between and often fused together to create a unique output of personal and political commentaries. For me, her finest work is her bleakest, though in Russia she is still mainly known for her comic and satirical sketches she wrote during her first years as a professional writer, from 1901 until 1918.
Her descriptions of everyday life in Russia are a trademark of her work, she has the ability to write convincingly about people from every level of society from illiterate peasants, to respectable bourgeois, monks and priests, eccentric poets, and leading figures from Tolstoy to Rasputin and Lenin. Her inclusion of humour, even to the darkest of her stories, make her so rewarding to read.
It did however, lead me to seeking out two of her better known collections that I haven't read in full yet, Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea and Other Worlds: Peasants, Pilgrims, Spirits, Saints.
Though I don't think that the stories selected here (from the books I have read) are her best ones, the book still provides an excellent introduction to the writer, her full name Nadezhda Alexandrovna Teffi, who lived 1872 - 1952. Her writing style is distinguished by two extremes, the serious and the satirical, which she alternated between and often fused together to create a unique output of personal and political commentaries. For me, her finest work is her bleakest, though in Russia she is still mainly known for her comic and satirical sketches she wrote during her first years as a professional writer, from 1901 until 1918.
Her descriptions of everyday life in Russia are a trademark of her work, she has the ability to write convincingly about people from every level of society from illiterate peasants, to respectable bourgeois, monks and priests, eccentric poets, and leading figures from Tolstoy to Rasputin and Lenin. Her inclusion of humour, even to the darkest of her stories, make her so rewarding to read.
September 25, 2024
Teffi is great, but the issue with this volume is that it's drawn from the existing collections of Teffi's work in English, and thus isn't a new book at all.
August 1, 2024
There once was a life. It was lived out, and it ended.
1920
This collection of short stories and autobiographical extracts dating from 1916 to 1952 provide an insight into upper class life before the Russian Revolution and the move to exile in Paris.
The lead translator has selected and ordered the segments so that they form a rough memoir of Teffi, with the first section comprising six autobiographical short stories of Teffi’s childhood which capture the intense emotions of youth, framing it in the unquestioned pampered Russian upper class life of the late nineteenth century, set mainly in the narrator’s summer country estate, but also in Moscow.
There follows some short stories set in pre-revolutionary Russia, a section on the indirect impact of the Russian revolution on Teffi with sections from her autobiographical Memories and the poem, Before a Map of Russia.
The book concludes with a collection of articles from Teffiz’s exile in Paris followed by more abstract pieces from her last years, after the Second World War. These are poignant and melancholy, without being self pitying.
If you like book, I would recommend Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea which is an episodic memoir of Teffi’s journey down from Moscow to Odesa following the Russian Revolution.
1920
This collection of short stories and autobiographical extracts dating from 1916 to 1952 provide an insight into upper class life before the Russian Revolution and the move to exile in Paris.
The lead translator has selected and ordered the segments so that they form a rough memoir of Teffi, with the first section comprising six autobiographical short stories of Teffi’s childhood which capture the intense emotions of youth, framing it in the unquestioned pampered Russian upper class life of the late nineteenth century, set mainly in the narrator’s summer country estate, but also in Moscow.
There follows some short stories set in pre-revolutionary Russia, a section on the indirect impact of the Russian revolution on Teffi with sections from her autobiographical Memories and the poem, Before a Map of Russia.
The book concludes with a collection of articles from Teffiz’s exile in Paris followed by more abstract pieces from her last years, after the Second World War. These are poignant and melancholy, without being self pitying.
If you like book, I would recommend Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea which is an episodic memoir of Teffi’s journey down from Moscow to Odesa following the Russian Revolution.
July 10, 2024
Fabulous short stories written on various topics which showcase diverse themes such as Russian culture, society, war time, rural life etc. Teffi is quite witty and original, and has her own unique takes on diverse situations.
December 27, 2024
And she continues to be adored by all!
December 27, 2025
Kind of a diva the way I feel like I know her to her core and yet some of the biggest moments of her life are missing in her writing
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews