A Letter From The Publisher, Jun. 6, 1960

RUSSIAN Novelist-Playwright Mikhail Artsybashev once offered three pieces of advice to his son Boris: "Get out of Russia, don't sponge on my reputation, and change your name." After five months of fighting the Communists with the Ukrainian army during the 1918 revolution, young Boris escaped to the Black Sea, where he boarded a ship that eventually deposited him in New York with 14¢of Turkish money in .his pocket. He celebrated his 20th birthday on Ellis Island.

Having carried out his father's first instruction, Boris transliterated the family name, set out to make a reputation...

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