Moscow Spring

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Most taxi drivers in Moscow seem to think that glasnost is not worth a damn, and the much-heralded new openness in Soviet society has hardly made a dent on sex-role stereotyping or on Russians' prudish sexual attitudes. These observations, made by the Taubmans during their six-month stay (Jan.-June 1988) in the U.S.S.R., are typical of the candid firsthand reportage in this refreshingly down-to-earth, unpretentious travelogue. Both specialists in Soviet affairs at Amherst College (he in political science, she in Russian literature), this husband-wife team analyze Gorbachev's attempted restructuring of the Soviet Union as ``a contradictory hybrid . . . a democratic revolution from above.'' Despite the fierce conservative opposition Gorbachev faces, the authors see optimistic signs of change in workplace elections, a press that is no longer monolithic and in the stream of formerly suppressed books, films and music being released and discussed. (Mar.)

Library Journal

The Taubmans are a university couple with an obvious love of Russia and a deep knowledge of Soviet affairs. Their most recent visit took place during the first half of 1988, as Gorbachev's campaign to rebuild his country got under way. The authors see a revolution in the making as momentous as that of 1917. The intoxicating excitement of their meetings with Moscow intellectuals and others leaps off the page. What a change since Michael Binyon's Life in Russia ( LJ 5/1/84), a mere five years ago! The Taubmans point out that public openness ( glasnost ) is proving much easier than reconstruction ( perestroika ), though the country's desperate need of both is made very plain. A fascinating book about a topic of vast importance, as much to Westerners as to the Soviet people.-- R.H. Johnston, McMaster Univ . , Hamilton, Ontario