I am an author, and like many in my profession, I am also a traveling salesman, going all over in an attempt to persuade people to spend twenty-five dollars on a hardcover book by me.

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

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

People in Russia adapt to misery by a deep, deep humor.

Cursing dads are terrifying, you know? Cursing dads are - I don't know why, but no. It just doesn't seem to me that that would be funny. I mean it might be - you could try it and see. I suppose anybody just losing it and sputtering curses is pretty funny. But I think it would be more of a challenge, much more of a challenge, to make a cursing dad funny.

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

When the days start to get shorter, I want to be in some nice brick building on the East Coast with the lights glowing in the windows. When the daylight starts changing, I want to be out West.