These snippets of Ilf & Petrov have been so enjoyable, and rather revelatory for me. My parents' personal history involved a lot of squeezing between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, and their understanding of Polish history was ... ethno-nationalistic, shall we say. Early on, I pretty much cast off the latter but it's surprised me to realize -- from Ilf and Petrov! -- to what extent I still, and in spite of actually having read some Soviet and Russian history! thought/think of Soviet citizens as faceless. The nitroglycerin blintzes, etc., are a useful corrective, and I've greatly appreciated them.