Third Factory

Like many of Shklovsky's works, Third Factory is not easily classified. In part it is a memoir of the three "Factories" that influenced his development as a human being and as a writer, yet the events depicted within the book are fictionalised and conveyed with the poetic verve and playfulness of form that have made Shklovsky a major figure in twentieth-century world literature. In addition to its fictional and biographical elements, Third Factory includes anecdotes, rants, social satire, literary theory, and anything else that Shklovsky, with an artist's unerring confidence, chooses to include.


About the Author

Viktor Shklovsky (1893-1984) was a leading figure in the Russian Formalist movement of the 1920s and had a profound effect on twentieth-century Russian literature. Several of his books have been translated into English and are available from Dalkey Archive Press, including On the Theory of Prose, Zoo, or Letters Not about Love, A Sentimental Journey, Energy of Delusion, Literature and Cinematography, and Bowstring.

Richard Sheldon (1932-2014), an authority on Russian formalism and formalist critic Viktor Shklovsky, also translated A Sentimental Journey, Zoo, or Letters Not about Love, and Knight's Move. He graduated from the University of Kansas, received his JD and PhD degrees from the University of Michigan, and taught Russian language and literature for many years at Dartmouth College.