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Art & Books

Words Will Break Cement: The Passion Of Pussy Riot

While we’re thinking free this week, consider the potent punk band Pussy Riot, two of whose members were recently liberated as part of Putin’s Olympics amnesty from the Russian prisons where they were incarcerated for playing God’s Shit in a church. Russian authorities had tried to make the court proceedings into a show trial, but the media-savvy band were already videoing themselves, and the media that descended on the courthouse were sympathetic to the band. Included among the observers was journalist Masha Gessen, author of Words Will Break Cement: The Passion Of Pussy Riot ($18, Riverhead). Drawing on interviews with band members and their families, Gessen chronicles how Pussy Riot became a cause célèbre. A great companion piece to the dynamic doc Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer.

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