Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot - Brossura

'Brought forward due to the amnesty and release, this is the story of the feminist post-punk collective told by the author of a much-admired book on Putin.' --'Books of 2014', Guardian

'Words Will Break Cement is valuable for its insights into the modern cultural history of Russia, with all its idealistic muddles, dead-ends and false starts. Gessen's sharp pen draws a caustic picture of Pussy Riot's trial while prison correspondence provides a vivid picture of the continuing awfulness of the Russian penal system. Her book is ideal for those curious about the country behind the games' --Economist

'Much here will be new to the reader. All of it is infuriating' --New York Times

'Words Will Break Cement is written in a dry, raised-eyebrow deadpan, which allows post-Soviet repression to indict itself and adeptly captures the bluster and headiness of activist idealism... Pussy Riot's story is a moving object lesson in the power of art to rise above repression and have the last, cement-breaking word' --LA Times

'Much here will be new to the reader. All of it is infuriating' --New York Times

'Gessen's book is vividly told. Overall this is an angry book, which makes it shockingly clear what an injustice was done in a ludicrous trial - and what the treatment of these women says about the system in Putin's Russia' --Sunday Herald

'Gessen's clinical and thorough depiction of Pussy Riot is as personal as it is political; thanks to the rather remarkable access she is afforded to the individuals, their families and allies' --Irish Times

'Immensely readable... It brilliantly traces the evolution of Pussy Riot' ***** --Mail on Sunday

'Gessen makes a forceful case for Pussy Riot. With extensive access to the friends, relatives and prison correspondence of the jailed activists, she delves deep into their lives. As a Russian-American steeped in the same ideas that inspired Pussy Riot, Gessen is a useful guide' --New Statesman

'Enlightening and poignant... Words Will Break Cement serves as a powerful indictment of the return to Soviet-era tactics to silence dissent' --Tablet

'Gessen makes a forceful case for Pussy Riot. With extensive access to the friends, relatives and prison correspondence of the jailed activists, she delves deep into their lives. As a Russian-American steeped in the same ideas that inspired Pussy Riot, Gessen is a useful guide' --New Statesman

'Words Will Break Cement - part cultural history, part instant reportage - offers an engaging and thoughtful exegesis of the events and personalities behind Pussy Riot. It is a lively addition to the canon of Russian prison literature. Gessen presents a scathing portrait of Putin-era judicial system' --Times Literary Supplement

'Gessen makes a forceful case for Pussy Riot. With extensive access to the friends, relatives and prison correspondence of the jailed activists, she delves deep into their lives. As a Russian-American steeped in the same ideas that inspired Pussy Riot, Gessen is a useful guide' --New Statesman

MASHA GESSEN is a journalist and the author of several books including Blood Matters. She has contributed to the New Republic, the New Statesman, Granta, Slate and Vanity Fair. Gessen lives in Moscow.