This astonishing Russian novel encompasses love, Soviet bureaucracy, Satan’s great Spring Ball, and the ordeal of Pontius Pilate. A poet and writer known only as the Master seeks in vain to publish his novel about the ancient Roman administrator. Tossed in a mental institution, he triumphs with the help of the
courtly, sophisticated Woland, who is visiting staunchly atheistic Moscow with his retinue (which includes a six-foot, gun-toting black cat) to promote and perform a show of black magic in one of the city’s finest theaters.
Mikhail Bulgakov labored on versions of his book for 12 years, knowing it could never be published under the crushing shadow of Stalin. His masterpiece would not see print in his lifetime: it first appeared—in truncated form—in 1966, more than a quarter century after the author’s death in 1940. Though translated the following year, it would not be published in complete form in English until the 1990s!
Order a pint of beer, a pot of tea, soup, sandwich, or cookies while you enjoy the old-fashioned experience of listening to hilarious tales and dialogue—like a podcast, only live! Browse the shelves for a volume you might like to take home.
Founder and host of “Story Time for Grownups” David Loftus has read to listeners in libraries, coffee shops, Powell’s Books, Borders, multiple branches of Umpqua Bank, on the streets of Portland, and for recordings for the blind. He has voiced Gandalf, Bilbo, and Gollum live with Willamette Radio Workshop, and Sherlock Holmes on KBOO. David currently voices principal characters for the science-fiction podcasts “Exoplanetary” and “253 Mathilde.” He has also acted in an episode of “Grimm” and in many local theater productions.
David’s most recent performances have been in Oregon Children’s Theatre productions of “The Journal of Ben Uchida” and “Last Stop on Market Street.” In June he turned in the final draft of his mother’s memoir about growing up in Hood River and being sent to prison camps on U.S. soil with other Japanese Americans during World War II, From Thorns to Blossoms. The book, which he revised, expanded, and edited, will be published by OSU Press in spring 2024.
On his Patreon site, Loftus writes about books, films, travel, and politics, and has uploaded excerpts of a book about his paternal grandmother’s life in Alaska Territory a century ago.
You may have seen his viral rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” on the back of an electronic tricycle in downtown Portland, which totaled nearly 13 million views on TikTok the past year, and more than half a million likes on Instagram.