I got the glimpse of the demise of the Soviet empire (1970s+) - the literature revolved around monthly magazines. It wasn't hard to subscribe to one. They would

I got the glimpse of the demise of the Soviet empire (1970s+) - the literature revolved around monthly magazines. It wasn't hard to subscribe to one. They would publish homemade and overseas masterpieces in chunks. So we would wait until the end of a piece, rip it from the magazines and bind it in a book. I never thought about it, but it seems that serial writing/publishing was natural in those days. I suspect it has deeper roots.