Russian Dissident Edward Limonov #
March 4th, 2008 | In Worth Reading
In light of the Russian election, Andrew Meier’s profile of the charismatic — and odd — dissident Edward Limonov is both topical and entertaining.
Limonov has helped to import a new word from English into the Russian political vernacular: luzer. As a politician, he is, to put it charitably, feckless. “He has no hope of gaining state power,” says Alexei Venediktov, the director of Ekho Moskvy and one of Russia’s sharpest political journalists. “But that’s not what motivates him. Limonov loves the street, and like any fighter he needs an arena.”