"I Outlived the Bastards”: A Memoir of Escaping Russia and Discovering America Paperback – May 12, 2026

"I Outlived the Bastards" is the inscription on the gravestone of Abram Paretsky (1901-1992), later Albert Parry, and signifies his triumph over the Soviet regime. In this memoir, Parry recounts his early life in Tsarist Rostov, his escape from Russia, and his experiences in America. As a young man, he worked as a reporter and editor for the New York-based, anti-communist, Russian-language newspaper Russkii Golos (The Russian Voice), warning against the rise of the Soviet Union. The renowned American journalist H.L. Mencken "discovered" him in 1930, and Parry was the first American to mention Nabokov in an American Mercury article. Read more