Once There Was a Village

By Yuri Kapralov

Book Overview

Kapralov's work revolves around his years living and working as an artist in New York's East Village in the late 1960's and early 1970's. As Kapralov chronicles the sad and slow deaths of his Slavic compatriots, the exploitation of the naive hippie runaways, the mechanical disintegration of the world in which he lives, his own mental deterioration begins. "The authentic account of a period by a survivor...Kapralov's background--and gift as a writer--make him the right annalist for the East Village."-- The Village Voice Yuri Kapralov was born in the Caucasus and came to the United States in 1949. He has lived in the East Village, New York City, since 1965. Kapralov has exhibited his paintings, pen-and-inks, and piano constructions in New York and San Francisco, and ran the Sixth Sense Gallery from 1982-87.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 188845105X
• ISBN13: 9781888451054
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Akashic Books
• Length: 164 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.5" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

A Classic!!!

Yuri wrote this great book titled "once there was a village" and it's one of my all time fav. books. It talks about the REAL NYC when you couldn't even walk a block in alphabet city without getting raped mugged or killed. He lived in the neighborhood back then in the 60's-70's and so he knows all about the BS that went down firsthand. It was just great to read about all that and feel extremely lucky to be in the position that i am now no matter how bleak it can be at times.

Best of its kind

I learned of Kapralov's book by reading a book on the downtown scene called Down and In. Kapralov is a natural, and his prose is far more engaging than the self-consciously 'literary' types writing about similar situations. I highly recommend this book. Addendum -- April 2005 -- Kapralov just died of alcoholism. Rest in peace, my friend. You did well.

Best book of 1999!

This book is a REAL piece of New York City history. Set in the East Village in the late '60s, the artist/author's perspective is deeply beautiful and 100% engaging. Literature...history...New York...what more could I ask for?