Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital has never been translated into English, despite the fact that it is one of Russians' most beloved books. Gilyarovsky's self-described "chronicle" is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin.