These are among the most widely read and quoted books in Russian culture. It also gives the authors a convenient platform from which to look at this society and to make fun of its less attractive and less Socialist aspects. Their position outside the organized, goal-driven, productive Soviet society is emphasized. The main characters generally avoid contact with the apparently lax law enforcement. They were written and are set in the relatively liberal era in Soviet history, the New Economic Policy of the 1920s. Both books follow exploits of Bender and his associates looking for treasure amidst the contemporary Soviet reality. The two texts are connected by their main character, Ostap Bender, a con man in pursuit of elusive riches. Ilf and Petrov gained a high profile for their two satirical novels: The Twelve Chairs (1928) and its sequel, The Little Golden Calf (1931). They did much of their writing together, and are almost always referred to as "Ilf and Petrov". Ilya Ilf (Ilya Arnoldovich Feinsilberg) (1897-1937) and Evgeny or Yevgeni Petrov (Yevgeniy Petrovich Kataev/Katayev) (1902-1942) were two Soviet prose authors of the 1920s and 1930s.
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