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Mythological accounts are verified, through artistic, literary, and cinematographical quotations. Where possible, the current role of the object in the everyday life or in the collective imagery is illustrated (a cult object, an icon, a commemorative or demoniacal memory).Various kinds of illustrations complete the text: photos, pictures, movie photograms, propaganda and advertising posters.

Introduction: the Soviet world of things
1. Sputnik (the “fellow traveller” launched in 1957)
2. Granënyj stakan (the faceted glass)
3. Nomerok (the indispensable wardrobe token)
4. Samovar (the boiler used to make tea)
5. Kotleta (meat ball, queen of refectories and national catering)
6. Avoska (a net bag: you never know what goods you may find)
7. Lenin’s mummy
8. Tarakani (the beloved cockroach)
9. Krasnaja Moskva (the most loved perfume for femmes)
... and many more.

Gian Piero Piretto is currently professor of Russian culture and of Methodology of visual culture at the Università Statale of Milan.
He graduated in Russian Language and Literature at the University of Torino in 1975. He worked in the universities of Bergamo and of Parma.
He published  essays and papers about Russian literature of XIX and XX centuries, specifically about the problem of the city in literature. His recent research focuses on cultural studies concerning the Soviet era in Russian history and the visual component of its culture. His latest essays include Il radioso avvenire. Mitologie culturali sovietiche (Einaudi, 2001), and
Gli occhi di Stalin. La cultura visuale sovietica nell’era staliniana (Raffaello Cortina, 2010).