Vladimir Sorokin came to public attention in 2002, when the conservative youth action group “Moving Together” (“Idushchie vmeste”) tried to imprison him for writing pornography in his novel Blue Fat (Goluboe salo). The court case came to nothing, but Sorokin’s name suddenly became widely known as a Russian writer being persecuted for his works. However, the charge of pornography would have come as no surprise to anyone acquainted with his writings, as they are littered with all manner of sexual degradation and depravity, described in appropriately coarse language, as well as with horrendous and usually irrational acts of violence. Sorokin is a writer who is not only demolishing literary and cultural taboos in his works, but

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First published 23 October 2003

Citation: Gillespie, David. "Vladimir Sorokin". The Literary Encyclopedia. 23 October 2003.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5508, accessed 9 February 2010.]