Human connection is the way things work. It's like a patronage system. You know somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows the district governor, and it's okay.

A book tour is not a good opportunity to let your mind wander. You have to pay attention, remember salespeople's and interviewers' names, succinctly summarize your book in a 'selling' way, and so on.

Siberia is so big, it’s almost more an idea than a place

Human connection is the way things work. It's like a patronage system. You know somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows the district governor, and it's okay.

There's an idea of the Plains as the middle of nowhere, something to be contemptuous of. But it's really a heroic place.

I only saw one English-speaking person all the way across Siberia.

Everything in Russia is made of cement - phone booths, fence posts and light bulbs.