'Biography of Sasha Soldatow (1947-2006): anarchist, activist, artist, and unforgettable personality. Born in Germany to a Russian family that emigrated to Australia when he was two, Sasha grew up in Melbourne then moved to Sydney, attracted by its anarchist tradition and new underground radical publishing. He was a staunch supporter of feminism and a leading figure in the nascent gay liberation movement from the late 1960s, active in prison reform and anti-development movements. He published six critically acclaimed books, many stories, essays, and reviews, regular columns in the gay press, and pamphlets of poetry and polemics that he also illustrated, designed and published. He traveled to Moscow where his dreams of living like a Russian were shattered as the Soviet Union fell apart. He is well remembered for his flamboyance, humour and outrageousness; his passions for politics and friendships; his influence, mentoring and editing for many well-known writers; his legal action against the premier funding body of the time; his poetry readings and cabaret performances; his generous and stylish hospitality.' (Publication summary)
'Sasha Soldatow was a writer, gay activist, member of the Sydney Push, party animal, and bon vivant with legions of friends. In Drink Against Drunkenness, Inez Baranay maps the life like an archaeologist’s dig, though we are looking into the recent past (Soldatow died in 2006, not yet sixty). A fall in the icy streets of Moscow, in which his hip was broken and subsequently badly reset, heralded a steep decline; his alcoholism grew apace, and many of his friends tired of him. It was a sad end, yet he had a life full of daring: avant-garde writing and living freely as a gay man in a still repressive age.' (Introduction)
'Sasha Soldatow was a writer, gay activist, member of the Sydney Push, party animal, and bon vivant with legions of friends. In Drink Against Drunkenness, Inez Baranay maps the life like an archaeologist’s dig, though we are looking into the recent past (Soldatow died in 2006, not yet sixty). A fall in the icy streets of Moscow, in which his hip was broken and subsequently badly reset, heralded a steep decline; his alcoholism grew apace, and many of his friends tired of him. It was a sad end, yet he had a life full of daring: avant-garde writing and living freely as a gay man in a still repressive age.' (Introduction)
