The Twelve Chairs

by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov

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Book cover for The Twelve Chairs

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This is absolutely amazing humoristic detective story.
The plot of The Twelve Chairs is very simple. The mother-in-law of a former nobleman named Vorobyaninov discloses on her deathbed a secret: she hid her diamonds in one of the family's chairs that subsequently was appropriated by the Soviet authorities. Vorobyaninov is joined by a young crook named Ostap Bender with whom he forms a partnership, and together they proceed to locate these chairs. The partners have a competitor in the priest Vostrikov, who has also learned of the secret from his dying parishioner.
The competing treasure-hunters travel throughout Russia in searching of the diamonds.
The events described in the novel are set in 1927, that is, toward the end of the period of the New Economic Policy, which was characterized by a temporary truce between the Soviet regime and limited private enterprise commerce, industry and agriculture.
  • ISBN13 9781365409653
  • Publish Date 20 September 2016 (first published 30 October 2011)
  • Publish Status Out of Print
  • Out of Print 25 June 2021
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Lulu.com
  • Format eBook (OEB)
  • Language English