Oh, Idle Net Surfer! If you come across this blog —along with thousands of others that adorn or clutter the net — you might ask yourself: ‘Why should I read this blog, and why should I care?’

Frankly, I am as puzzled as you are, and don’t quite know how to answer. Why indeed? There are plenty of intelligent educated people that blog, who needs another one?

Well, let me say few words about this blog, and if after that, you are still unconvinced, then, surf along. There is always another wave to carry you on.

Below you’ll find my official biography, but here is one reason, why you should pause on this blog: perspective.

What I try to do —primarily for myself — but others find it illuminating as well — is to look at familiar things from a different perspective. Use telescope to look at something in front of me. Use microscope to look at a distance. View American events from a Russian angle. Approach Russian scene from the perspective of Emerson, Milton or Shakespeare. Use Aeschylus and Dante to explain a modern film or a song.

’But the result will be strange and peculiar to me,’ — the internet surfer might exclaim. Exactly! But if, nevertheless, you add, that only a glance from a strange and peculiar perspective enlightens us, since everything else is just spinning and propaganda, I’d say again: exactly. And in that case, give it a try. But if you do, and still find it strange and peculiar, well, you’ve been warned, and my conscience is at least clear in that respect.

And here is something “official,” for those who need more objective information.

Vladimir Golstein grew up in Moscow during the Soviet Union. Before emigrating to the United States in 1979, he earned an M.S. in Computers from Moscow Institute of Management. He continued his studies in the United States where he earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Yale University. 

After completing his studies, Vladimir has taught at Oberlin College (1990-93), Yale University (1993-2003) and Brown University where he has taught a wide range of graduate and undergraduate courses that explore Western and Russian literary traditions. His scholarly interests include Russian culture, religion, philosophy, and poetry of the past two centuries, as well as current foreign policy issues. 

He is the author of Lermontov's Narratives of Heroism (Northwestern University Press, 1998) and numerous articles on nineteenth and twentieth century Russian authors, including Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Tsvetaeva, and Bulgakov. Professor Golstein has additionally been widely published by popular news sites such as Al Jazeera, The Nation, Forbes, Alternet, and Antiwar on issues of Russian and American foreign policy.