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the Complete Review
the complete review - poetry



Sidetracked

by
Alexander Voloshin


general information | our review | links | about the author

To purchase Sidetracked


Title: Sidetracked
Author: Alexander Voloshin
Genre: Epic
Written: 1953 (Eng. 2026)
Length: 89 pages
Original in: Russian
Availability: Sidetracked - US
Sidetracked - UK
Sidetracked - Canada
from: Bookshop.org (US)
directly from: Paul Dry Books
  • Exile in Hollywood
  • Russian title: На путях и перепутьях: ‘Досуги Вечерние’. Европа-Америка, 1921-1952
  • Translated and with an Introduction by Boris Dralyuk
  • Includes numerous photographs

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Our Assessment:

B+ : good fun

See our review for fuller assessment.



The complete review's Review:

       In his Introduction, Boris Dralyuk describes Sidetracked as: "the great mock epic of White Russian Hollywood", but, in fact, it is more than just a verse-narrative of, as the English subtitle has it, of the experience of: 'Exile in Hollywood' -- or, indeed, as the Russian one ('Europe-America, 1921-1952') suggests. The latter comes closest, but Voloshin's two-part epic begins in the turbulent times of the Russian Revolution, with the: "foul destructive gale / that swept over our fair city", the Bolshevik conquest of Kyiv in February 1918. (Voloshin was born in Ukraine and was part of the Volunteer Army that fought the Bolsheviks, as well as then supporting "the German- and Austrian-backed Hetman of independent Ukraine, Pavlo Skoropadskyi".)
       The eleven chapters of Part I -- each just a page or two -- describe a briefly hopeful period, where there seems the possibility of an independent Ukrainian state ("Everyone was acting brave ... / Blue and yellow flags would wave ... / We all danced and drank, had fun") and then a life in retreat and then European exile.
       The hopes of a free Ukraine were dashed:

Our Ukraine was swallowed whole.
Deutschland being "über alles,"
Germans fled, gave us no solace.
It turned out that they were prone
to Red dramas of their own.
       Fleeing abroad, many first settled in Turkey and established themselves there -- "Without wreaking devastation, / heroes of emigration / had laid siege to Istanbul, / taking charge of it in full" -- before being ... encouraged: "to leave Turkey double-quick". From there: "we all had but one dream: / to New York !".
       The final chapter of this part goes quickly through the hardships of arranging to get to the Unted States, but ends happily enough:
     Once past Ellis Island,
suitcases in hand, we smiled and
sighed, "Our journey's at an end ...
At long last, we can unbend ..."
       The second part is then devoted to life in American exile, and the émigrés settling in and becoming 'American'. There are some frustrations -- one chapter is devoted to the awkward situation that: "We had one headache: 'Prohibition'" -- but on the whole they manage well. But, though this part opened: "Thus ended our nomadic days", after a few years the refugee actors among them - so also Voloshin -- found themselves: "succumbing to the itch, / they all rushed off to Hollywood !"
       Here, then is the part of the story devoted to the depiction of the Hollywood-life of the émigré actor -- mostly just waiting for that call from Central Casting and the bit parts they can fill, as: "Not many Russians 'break through'". As Voloshin and his fellow émigrés quickly learn:
     Hollywood offers
mere beauty, which won't fill your coffers ...
Life here is hard.
       Still, they get by, and even enjoy this life -- as Voloshin points out, switching from the first-person plural to the more specific and personal singular: "Why be ashamed ? What's the big deal ? / I earn a little 'pocket money,' / which keeps my disposition sunny ...".
       One chapter offers an amusing day-in-the-life overview of the wannabe-extra, and there are then also reflections on the (White Russian) émigré fate and life more generally, nostalgic reminiscence of what has been left behind ("sweet memories / of childhood, that old life of ease ...") and lost, as well as the clinging to the hopes of a return to what was (or at least the motherland). World events continue to make any possible return unlikely -- " 1939 is gone -- / and good riddance" -- but Voloshin remains hopeful: "I believe our time will come".
       Much of the epic, especially at first, is written in the first-person-plural -- 'we' rather than 'I' --, but in the later parts the singular perspective comes more to the fore, Voloshin presenting the experience and the opinions more as his own. The verse -- Hudibrastic couplets in the original, with translator Dralyuk noting that he has: "largely stuck to couplets in my translation, occasionally introducing alternating and enveloping rhyme where the effect seemed right" -- is light and bouncy, preventing the narrative from ever feeling heavy, even when presenting darker events or feelings. The narrator practically insists on always looking on or seeing the bright side -- even as that occasionally requires some contortions.
       All this is good -- and even quite touching -- fun, the buoyant verse going down easy, the narrative skipping along at a quick pace while still covering a great deal. The helpful Introduction and Notes provide additional context -- and there's a nice selection of photographs, including of Voloshin playing Stalin (uncredited) in Josef von Sternberg's The Last Command, as well as of the original cover of the book.

- M.A.Orthofer, 19 January 2026

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Links:

Sidetracked: Alex Woloshin: Other books of interest under review:

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About the Author:

       Russian-born Alexander Voloshin (also: Alex Woloshin; Александр Александрович Волошин) lived ca. 1884 to 1960.

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© 2026 the complete review

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