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Every week close to 400 new books are published in Russia. Their titles are listed in Knizhnoye Obozreniye, or Book Review, a weekly publication of the Ministry of Press and Information. But there is no published list of Russian bestsellers -- proof that this country's book market has a long way to go. Here are some of the best recent books:
PHILOSOPHY. During the Soviet era, 95 percent of the titles in this category were naturally devoted to Marxism-Leninism. Now it is Western philosophers banned in the Soviet Union who dominate the publishing agenda. The state-owned Respublika publishing house has come out "20th-Century Thinkers," a series of hardcover volumes which includes writings by the likes of Karl Jaspers and Erich Fromm. Each volume is around 500 pages long with a press run of 50,000 copies. The price is upwards of 1,700 rubles, depending on where you look.
POLITICS. This isn't a particularly popular topic right now. In the lull between Vladimir Zhirinovsky's autobiography selling out and the late spring publishing of Boris Yeltsin's new memoirs, the only option is Izvestia correspondent Alexander Shalnev's 180-page bio, "Bill Clinton: Sketches for a Portrait." Prices start at 1,000 rubles.
HISTORY. The most popular arrivals here are new editions of books on Russian history written before 1917. The second volume of the three-volume "The Course of Russian History" by Vasily Klyuchevsky (1841-1911) was published in January. Another bestseller, "Son of Catherine the Great, Emperor Paul I," by Kazimir Valishevsky (1849-1935) runs 450 pages and the hardcover goes for no less than 2,000 rubles.
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