"The publisher Ellendea Proffer Teasley’s memoir of the poet, which became a sensation when it was first published in Russian three years ago, provides a penetrating and at times deeply moving account of both the myth and the man behind the work. She renders the Brodsky she knew not just as a great poet and deeply imperfect human being, but also as a political thinker who was uncompromising and unforgiving in his beliefs." - Commentary Magazine"Proffer Teasley’s memoir is an excellent primary source for information about Brodsky’s character and personality, his exile and journey to the United States, his adaptation to this new culture and his attitudes toward it, his relationship with writers and intellectuals in America, and his undiminished opposition to and hostility towards the Soviet Union." - International Journal of Russian Studies, 7.1 (2018)“Among the reminiscences of the Soviet Union and Russian literary endeavors at the turn of the twenty-first century, this is the most appealing memoir-with-history. It is a truly wonderful book—intelligent, witty, warm, truthful. … A wonderful portrait of a moment in history and a generation that acted to improve it. A wonderful book, as I said, and repeat for emphasis.” —Irena Grudzinska Gross, The Russian Review, Vol. 7, No. 2
