The study of the poetry of the great Russian rock bard Alexander Bashlachev has long been a fully-fledged discipline. However, research and attempts to fully understand SashBash have until now seemed like an equation with many unknowns. In Professor Vitaly Gavrikov's new work, "Bashlachev's Eschatology," a number of questions are answered with reasoned arguments, and the overall understanding of the poet's phenomenon begins to take shape...

"Professor Gavrikov's book is unique for a number of reasons.
Firstly, it is the first publication in scholarship on Bashlachev to utilize a full range of sources. Several new texts by the poet, previously unpublished, have been introduced into scholarly circulation. There are about ten of these. For example, works written for the band "Rock-Sentyabr." In some cases, these are almost detective stories: the scholar, using circumstantial evidence, proves that an anonymous text by a Cherepovets rock band was most likely written by Bashlachev. Even the legendary "Archipelago of Revelers," apparently Bashlachev's last song, which survives in fragments, is included in the scholarly analysis. Gavrikov works with a large corpus of Bashlachev's phonograms, including a number of unpublished ones. Furthermore, to write the book, the scholar pored over virtually everything written about Bashlachev in scholarship. The book contains numerous references to other works on Bashlachev.
Secondly, for the first time, we will see Bashlachev's development both as a poet and as a performer. The poet frequently, and sometimes profoundly, reworked his works. This fluidity of the same song over time is an important characteristic of Bashlachev's creative thinking. Gavrikov works with song versions, emphasizing the latest performances. Many of the "reworkings" he found on the phonograms are not recorded in current editions of Bashlachev's works.
Thirdly, Gavrikov's perspective on the poet's concert practice is intriguing. It turns out that Bashlachev's concerto is like one giant super-song, with a unique super-plot. And a series of 10-15 such concertos forms another level—a gigantic plot encompassing an entire period in Bashlachev's career! And this plot is not a random combination of songs, but a "lyrical novel" carefully crafted by the poet!
Overall, Professor Gavrikov's book contains much that is new, interesting, and unusual. This study can be recommended to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of Alexander Bashlachev's work," says Anthony Quellin, Slavicist and professor at Texas Tech University (USA).

The author has been studying the work of Sasha Bash for nearly 20 years. During this time, dozens of articles on the work of Bashlachev and other rock poets have been written and published, as well as several monographs, one of which is "In the Poetic Universe of Alexander Bashlachev." Gavrikov Vitaly Aleksandrovich, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor of the Bryansk branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.