“"What is the opposite of ivory tower? The black earth of Solovyovo, perhaps? Margaret Paxson, a brilliant anthropologist, has gotten her hands—and a lot else besides—dirty in the mud of a Russian village, to the enormous benefit of the readers of her new book. Paxson makes a huge contribution to our knowledge of the Russian village, an ancient human institution whose uniqueness has survived wars and revolutions for centuries. One's sense of Russia will never be quite the same after reading her book." —Robert G. Kaiser, author of Russia: The People and the Power, and Why Gorbachev Happened Vivid ethnography of a Russian village during the Soviet and post-Soviet eras. Paxson brings to life the everyday social and agricultural routines of the villagers as well as holiday observances, religious practices, cosmology, beliefs and practices surrounding health and illness, the melding of Orthodox and communist traditions and their post-Soviet evolution, and the role of the yearly calendar in regulating village lives.”

“What is the opposite of ivory tower? The black earth of Solovyovo, perhaps? Margaret Paxson, a brilliant anthropologist, has gotten her hands—and a lot else besides—dirty in the mud of a Russian village, to the enormous benefit of the readers of her new book. Paxson makes a huge contribution to our knowledge of the Russian village, an ancient human institution whose uniqueness has survived wars and revolutions for centuries. One's sense of Russia will never be quite the same after reading her book. ”
 — Robert G. Kaiser, author of Russia: The People and the Power, and Why Gorbachev Happened

“. . . would be of great interest to scholars from a wide range of discipines—anthropology, cultural studies, history, and political science. It would be of great value for scholars of Russia and those working on other settings, who are bound to draw rich insight and material for comparative analysis from this important book”
 — Asia Studies 59:7 (rec'd 1/08)

“The book, based on in-depth participant-observation and interviews in the mid-1990s, presents in arresting imagery the everyday life of a northwestern Russian village the author calls Solovyovo. It paints the kind of memorable tableaux that one might expect from a talented novelist, and in this sense it indeed weaves a kind of story . . . . Engaged readers. . . will find a great deal of value and subtlety in Paxson's story.Vol. 36.3 August 2009”
 — Jennifer Patico, Georgia State University

“. . . a remarkable achievement. . . . the best ethnographic study of Russian country people available today.”
 — Caroline Humphrey, TLS

“While Paxson's book explains the memory of landscape of Russian peasants, and by extension Russian culture more generally, I recommend it to anyone interested in human beings and who like to read good books.April 2009”
 — Slavonic and East European Review