Vladimir Sorokin (1955) is a Russian prose writer, one of the best known Russian authors of today. It can even be said that his fame is of the scandalous variety. His 1999 novel Blue Salo met with the consternation of earnest young Russians who took exception to the scenes where Joseph Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev had intercourse. Patriots built a giant toilet on the Red Square and tossed copies of the book in it, and proceeded to blow up the toilet. This ritual increased the sales of the book five-fold. However, the book offers cause for offence also for those who consider literature itself untouchable and sacred – namely, blue salo is produced by clones of famous Russian writers who also eject bizarre text. For example, a clone of Anna Akhmatova produces a poem about three female collective farm workers impregnated by Comrade Ahkmat, a hero of the Civil War. Naturally, the novel is a joy for people with a keen sense of irony. Sorokin’s keen social nerve and cutting satire are also evident in his Stalinist dystopia Day of the Oprichnik (2006) and Kremlin Made of Sugar (2008). Sorokin proves that he is not only a social critic with his novel The Blizzard (2010), an imaginative, yet intimate description of people in the Russian wilderness. Vladimir Sorokin will talk to writer P. I. Filimonov.