Book

 Russia, hate it or leave it

A highly unreliable first-hand account of the Russian soul in all its everlasting glory

I started learning Russian 25+ years ago and I have, so far, lived next to 5 years of my life in the country. And all of that is a massive accident…

And I blame my parents for that. Well, not really, but kinda: I took Russian in school from age 10, first went there to work as an intern by age 20, then came back a few years later to start my (so-called) career in Moscow, before the 2008 crisis made me question most of my life choices, including where it was located. That being said, the experiences I made and the people I met there in many ways forged the man that I am today. Especially the bad ways.

This is the first — and probably last — book that I have ever written (out of two dozen ideas, most of which were worse than this one). As it happens, I started thinking about writing it back in Moscow some time around 2001, started wanting to write it circa 2009 when I came back from Moscow, and started actually writing it around… mid-2017 when I had no possible excuse left for not doing it.

The very fact that I was able to finish this book is a testament to a) my wife’s ability to encourage me to do so (it is dedicated to her: she knows), b) the fact that you can publish anything on Amazon these days… Still, I hope you enjoy it. And, if you don’t, please don’t post any comments anywhere…