Aglaya Stepanova Revkina is a true believer in Stalin — so much so that when Khrushchev comes to power and statues of Stalin are pulled down all over the Soviet Union, Aglaya takes the one she helped erect in her provincial town of Dolgov and installs it in her apartment as a potent totem. In this arch satire by the author of «The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin», Aglaya and her statue watch as Khrushchev relents to Brezhnev, Brezhnev relents to stagnation, and the U.S.S.R. itself dissolves away in dissent. But even the new freedom has its perils, and some wonder if Russia just needs a strong leader again.