How does Yevgeny Yevtushenko spell relief? G-L-A-S-N-O-S-T. Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev's campaign of "openness" has given him another opportunity to star in his most celebrated role. Since he first packed them in at Mayakovsky Square during the early days of Khrushchev, the dramatic Siberian has been known internationally as the thaw poet. Less privileged Soviet writers know him for his adaptability on thin ice.
Almost at the End demonstrates why. A collection of prose and poetry, the book is nicely timed with the reappearance of Yevtushenko, 53, as a prominent spokesman for Gorbachev's liberalization campaign. The new work is theatrical but...