Vaksberg (Stalin's Prosecutor
) unsympathetically traces the fascinating life of the Russian writer who became the so-called father of Soviet literature but who died in 1936, at age 68, under suspicious circumstances. Drawing on new archival research and interviews, the author focuses on Gorky's activities as a cultural and political figure. Vaksberg starts with his subject's rise to literary prominence at the end of the 19th century and his imprisonment for anti-tsarist activities. Early on, Gorky opposed the Bolsheviks and spent several years in exile in Italy. But he began supporting the Stalinist regime after returning home in 1932. Eventually, Vaksberg writes, Gorky became "hostile toward any information from the West, while any propaganda from the east was the ultimate truth." Vaksberg's writing, and the able translation, show stylistic flair, and the author knows his subject well. However, he ends by arguing that Gorky died not of complications from tuberculosis but of a poisoning by Stalinist officials. The thesis has been offered before, and Vaksberg provides little new evidence to support his claim. 30 b&w photos. (Nov.)
