His father was imprisoned during Stalin 's purges but survived 16 years in the gulags . Most of Yerofeyev 's childhood was spent in Kirovsk , Murmansk Oblast . He managed to enter the philology department of the Moscow State University but was expelled from the university after a year and a half because he did not attend compulsory military training . Later he studied in several more institutes in different towns , including Kolomna and Vladimir , but he never managed to graduate from any , usually being expelled due to his " amoral behaviour "
Stalin 's purges
Great Purge
Venedikt Yerofeyev