Nikolai Zabolotsky (1903-1958) was one of the great poets of twentieth-century Russia. As the last link in the Russian Futurist tradition and the first poet to come of age in the Soviet period, Zabolotsky wrote both experimental and classical poetry. This is the first critical biography of Zabolotsky to appear in English. Goldstein examines not only his poetic career but also his life, highlighting the deep ambiguity of Zabolotsky's era by exploring the ways in which the poet was influenced both by the artistic avant-garde and by the Soviet scientific establishment.