SOURCE: "Making It," in The New Republic, May 6, 1991, pp. 33-7.

In the following review, Venclova traces the evolution of Yevtushenko's "accommodating" tone, themes, and style in both his poetry and prose and his changing relevance to Russian politics and literature.

An interesting article by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, part essay, part memoir, recently appeared in Literaturnaya Gazeta in Moscow, in which the poet dwells at length on his skirmishes with Soviet reactionaries. The title of the article is "Fencing with a Pile of Dung," which is meant to be a bold metaphor. Among other tales. Yevtushenko tells the story of his visit to the pre-perestroika Kremlin, where he was to be honored with the Order of the Red Banner:

The Order was presented by a vice-chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, and Azerbaijani whose last name I cannot, for the life of me, recall. Pinning the order to...