ABSTRACT
Given that an estimated 30,000 Russians die of alcohol poisoning each year (a statistic reported in Erofeyev 2002, 56), it is somewhat difficult to understand why anyone would disagree with Mikhail Gorbachev's judgement that “vodka has done more harm than good to the Russian people.” 1 Instead, Evgeny Popov—a contemporary Russian author—was recently quoted, in an article on the history of the 500-year-old, odorless, colorless, and tasteless drink, to believe nonetheless that it has performed a crucial social function.
Vodka has provided access to a private life that is closed to the state, a place where it is possible to relax, to forget your troubles, to engage in sex with the illusion of free choice. (Quoted in Erofeyev 2002, 61)
