The Twelve Chairs

Why it’s on the list: Ostap Bender hunting a set of dining chairs with jewels sewn into one of them — the great satirical novel of Soviet NEP-era hustle, and a portrait of an economy improvised by con men.

Where I heard about it

• The replies to @WillManidis — named in his thread asking “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?” (June 2025).

Connections

• what is the single best book… (tweet) — the saved thread this recommendation came from.
• Literature · Russia — where this sits in the corpus.