American fiction is good. It would be nice if somebody read it.

If I still lived in Russia, I'd be dead... or a really effective oligarch.

That's what tyrants do, I guess. They make you covet their attention; they make you confuse attention for mercy.

In a strange way, I expected Russia to become more like America since the Soviet Union collapsed, but the reverse is true. America has become more like Russia: a kleptocratic society.

I read real books. On paper. You know, those printed books? I feel like this is the last thing I do to support my industry. I think they smell great, too.

I was very, very sick when I was growing up in Russia. The ambulance constantly came to our house. I had horrible asthma that is easily treated in America, but they didn't even have inhalers back in Russia.

We are now part of this giant machine where every second we have to take out a device and contribute our thoughts and opinions.