At the non/fiction exhibition, Alexander Pelevin was confused with Victor, but everything worked out

Scandals are the engine of trade

The calendar year 2022 is coming to an end. It culminated in scandals, the final “divorce” between the patriotic and liberal Littusovka and squabbles and fragmentation within the already few groups. Non/fiction #24, which opened on December 1, evokes just such reflections and makes you think of yourself as the last significant event of the year. What will happen next and what 2023 will bring us is unknown.

It is frightening that a seemingly neutral non/fiction was marked by scandals at the preparation stage. A writer from St. Petersburg, a laureate of the National Best, Alexander Pelevin, publicly declared that he, a patriot and a good guy, was not allowed to enter the fair by the ubiquitous liberals. The information field “seethed”, State Duma deputy Dmitry Kuznetsov (an associate of the party leader and prose writer Zakhar Prilepin) volunteered to intercede for a like-minded person, but the organizers of the action under the dome of Gostiny Dvor understood what was going on. And they let the Petersburger to one of the sites.

Moreover, the forecasts of critics did not come true at all, that the “traditional non-fiction public” was not interested in the events of the Z-patriots (writers who support the CBO), and “the public who needs them is unlikely to come in any noticeable amount.”

The fact remains: Alexander Pelevin managed to gather at least 80 people for the presentation of the short story about the Vlasovites. Whether this is a lot – decide for yourself, but the pavilion allotted to the winner of the “National Best” simply physically could not accommodate more people.

But here is another fact: one of the spectators, asking a question, turned to Pelevin 2.0 familiarly: “Sasha, tell me …” That is, of course, Alexander actively convened friends, but now try to gather ten people somewhere, and not the fact that eight tens.

Let us also mention the third fact, which is quite insignificant: there was a queue for an autograph, many people bought books on the spot. “What is the price?” “So much,” Pelevin replied, naming the usual price. But they corrected him, naming the amount of one hundred rubles more. “That’s right, the writer needs to live on something,” the reader comments and lays out the required amount. The pen creaks. The autograph “dear name” is ready.

Of course, the representation of the writer in the literary field is what this whole battle was about. But the manuscript, according to Pushkin’s precepts, can also be sold.

And Alexander, when he said that the announced non-release of the new novel by Viktor Pelevin, and then its entry into the sale, is a cunning marketing ploy, he did not think that the mess that preceded today would seem like a PR action to someone.

But the most comical was at the beginning. Three readers, 20 minutes before the appearance of Alexander Pelevin, took out the last works of Viktor Olegovich from their bags. The MK correspondent clarified who will be speaking now: look carefully at the program.

“Not that Pelevin. Puncture. Fir-trees-sticks… Substitution” – with such exclamations addressed to the “fake Pelevin” the “deceived” readers commented on their nervous departure. And they left.

Those who succeeded them understood the intricacies of the modern literary process and did not confuse anyone with anyone. And there were many.

But once again we will return to the political motives of the refusal. OK. They were.

But what if the organizers were afraid of such accusations of “substituting” writers for the purpose of “enticement”?

People – they go for books, not for scandals.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28924 dated December 2, 2022

Newspaper headline:
Scandals are the engine of trade