In 1984 I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Russian Literature at the Moscow State University. From 1985 through 1997, I taught Russian literature at the Moscow State Pedagogical University. My former students include successful editors, writers, and literary scholars. During the 1990's, I also taught as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northwestern University, and Cornell University. In 1998-1999 I worked as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for European Studies (Cornell University); and in 2000-2001, as a Visiting Scholar in the Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard University.

I wrote a number of works on the history of Russian literature of the 18th-20th centuries and on modern literature, culture and politics.

My book Pushkin's Poetry, or A Lively Palimpsest (Moscow: NLO, 1999) was included in the short list of the 2000 Andrei Bely Award and was listed among the best Russian books of the 90's by several critics. My book Literary Scandals of Pushkin's Time (Moscow: OGI, 2000) provoked furious debates and was listed among the best books of the month, best books of the year, and best books on literature of the last decade.

Currently I am finishing my new book Gogol's High-Society Romance and preparing a book-length commentary to Pushkin's narrative poems.

I love good parties, Baroque music, and long walking tours.