Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More

“Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More is an important book… . [It] provides fresh paradigms that pack a hefty explanatory punch both with regard to its immediate subject matter and beyond. Its publication means that discussions of Soviet life, culture, and literature that rely on the old, rigid binarisms are going to seem instantly dated… . This study is a must-read.”—Harriet Murav, Current Anthropology“A brilliant anthropological reconstruction of the mental and cultural furniture of late Communism.”—Robert Grogin, Historian“Amidst these prolix transformations in Russian language and civilization, Yurchak’s contribution has come in the form of a deep listening.”—Bruce Grant, Slavic Review“If there is a prize for best title of the year, this book surely deserves it. Alexei Yurchak … has written an interesting and provocative book about the way young Soviet Russians talked in the Brezhnev period and what they meant by what they said.”—Sheila Fitzpatrick, London Review of Books“The strength of Yurchak’s study is in its methodological-analytical grasp of the seemingly contradictory nature of everyday existence… . Yurchak provides an elegant methodological tool to explore the complex, intersecting and often paradoxical nature of social change.”—Luahona Ganguly, International Journal of Communication

Alexei Yurchak is professor of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley.