Ilf and Petrov confronted the absurdity of the Soviet Empire with satire. Their stories are now available for the first time in translation. The supply of tales and narratives from the Russian author duo Ilia Ilf and Evgeny Petrov seems inexhaustible. Before the publication of their classic "The Golden Calf," they released several collections that always reveal the Soviet everyday world during the first Five-Year Plan: "Kolokolamsk and Other Incredible Stories," "A Light Figure," and "1001 Days or the New Scheherazade." Grotesque antics from the provinces, populated by comical characters, failed existences, deceitful bureaucrats, and petty bourgeois rogues. Ilf and Petrov approach this Soviet universe with parodic irony, subversive wordplay, and relentless comedy. Their books became a part of popular culture.