Three Fat Men

Three Fat Men (Три Толстяка, "Tri Tolstiaka") is a Russian and Soviet children's story written by Yury Olesha in 1924, published 1928. The book tells the story of a revolution led by the poor against the rich (Fat Men) in a fictional country. This country is described in a realistic spirit, without magic and fairy-tale creatures, but some fantastic elements are still present. It was considered the first revolutionary fairy tale in Soviet literature for its depiction of a popular uprising against a corrupt government. Early critical reaction was varied, with V. Boichevsky describing it as a "sugarcoated" presentation of revolution in an article "How Stories For Children Should Not Be". Anatoly Lunacharsky, however, saw in it "heart-felt apologetics by the artistic intelligentsia accepting the revolution". Konstantin Stanislavki and the Moscow Art Theatre premiered a dramatic version of the story in May 1930. A ballet version with music by V. Oransky was presented in 1935. It has also been turned into an opera (composer, V. Rubin, 1956), a film, cartoon movies, diafilm (filmstrip), several comic versions, several radio versions, and a computer game.