A Professor Emeritus Pens a Timely Memoir

Walking down the hallway near the Tandon MakerSpace it’s hard to miss the long glass case containing copies of books written by faculty members. It’s a display comprised for the most part of weighty engineering texts and technical tomes. Our faculty members are a diverse lot, however, and one, Professor Emeritus Louis Menashe, recently published The Triple Whammy and Other Russian Stories, which is not a textbook but a memoir.

Written in an engaging, non-academic style, the book details his encounters with Russians, the friendships he developed with them, and the pleasures and pains of visiting, working, and living in the USSR and post-Soviet Russia. At a time when Moscow and American-Russian relations are making headline news, the book provides a timely glimpse at a complex nation and its culture.

Menashe, who taught history at what was then known as Polytechnic University, is also the author of Moscow Believes in Tears: Russians and Their Movies, which was named Outstanding Academic Title by Choice, the journal of the American Library Association, in 2011.