Marina Boroditskaya is a poet and translator of English-, French-, and Polish-language poetry. She is the author of poetry books “It Turns Out You Can,” “The Ode to Nearsightedness,” “The Skipper,” “The Skipperess,” and others. Among the most famous translations are Chaucer’s “Troilus and Cressida,” “By the Name of Love.” English Cavalier poets of the 17th century, Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” as well as many books by children’s poets, including Doctor Seuss and Julia Donaldson. Don’t forget to say thank you, stand up, and leave in time… — this is how the full line from one of Marina Boroditskaya’s poems sounds, and it closes this book of truly motley prose. Inside it you’ll find, along with Pushkin’s sharply poignant memoir tale “Pushkin’s 17,” about growing up in the very heart of thaw-time Moscow, the secrets of translation craftsmanship, memories of friends—colleagues—translator-poets, and miniatures from notebooks… And, of course, the book is generously sprinkled with poems. You really want to write prose, but laziness takes over. It really takes over! You’ll involuntarily get sidetracked into poems. (Marina Boroditskaya)