In the years of stagnation before glasnost changed the cultural map of the USSR, Iurii Trifonov (1926-1981) defied the rules of censorship. This study examines how, within the repressive artistic and political constraints of the Soviet publishing world, Trifonov managed not only to write on controversial topics such as Soviet history, but also to achieve and maintain popular status by doing so. The text analyzes the aesthetic strategies Trifonov deployed in order to transmit his ideas and opinions to Soviet readers and elucidates the major themes of his late fiction. Drawing on both Western and Soviet scholarship, as well as interviews with many Soviet and emigre writers, literary critics and personal acquaintances of Trifonov, it provides background on the Soviet literary milieu and the rules governing literary production and processes. The study concludes with an assessment of the importance of Trifonov in relation to the current intellectual climate of the USSR.