 Seen by Aderca himself as his personal best, "A fost odată un imperiu" centers on the life of Grigori Rasputin, the political guru whose influence preceded the Russian Revolution.As Crohmălniceanu notes, Aderca took up a theme from Klabund, but "ingeniously" retold the story with the faux objectivity of "Kinostil" Expressionism.The text then becomes highly subjective, comedic, chaotic text