Collected Works

The Barrel Organ (full-length satirical play), The Foundation Pit (complete novel), The Epifan Locks and nine other short stories. Andrei Platonov (1899-1951) produced a great body of work, including fiction, plays poetry, essays, and scenarios. The chasm between the ideals of the "new men" and the reality of provincial life is one of Platonov's main themes. The Party boss who is blind to suffering and real problems is one of his favorit evillains. His favorite heroes are working men - laborers, mechanics, craftsmen - who have intimate relations with both nature and machines. Usually because of supervisors who misuse both machines and men, the heroes come to unhappy ends.