Digenis.org

In need of a short break from Murakami (the last seven books I?ve read have been his), I stumbled upon and read this weekend Twelve Stories of Russia: A Novel, I Guess by A.J. Perry.

In it, Perry quite humorously tells of his life in Moscow during the tumultuous early 1990?s, and how his one year contract to teach English turned into a six and a half year journey to understand the Russian Soul and find ?the eleven words that are not just words?.

Andrew Wachtel is right on target when he says (in a quote on the book?s cover), ?This book captures spectacularly the weirdness that is Russia for a foreigner. . .? Even ten years after Perry?s adventures I find myself experiencing similar situations and frustrations with the way that Russia ?works?.

Here?s two excerpts that I especially enjoyed:

?Time passed. The seasons came and went. Like passengers in the metro they blended together. In the spring we looked for mushrooms; in the fall we found them. In the summer we took warm showers at each other?s apartments; and in the dead of winter we swam outdoors in what was then that used to be a cathedral, and which is now the cathedral that used to be a pool.

Happily, we bought bread in stores named ?Bread?.

We played cards without a full deck.

We tossed kopecks into canals and made naïve wishes for the future: the redhead for harmony between black and white Americans; I for democracy in Russia; and Tanya for a blue passport.?
Page 46

?Yeah, these twelve story buildings are all the same . . . they?re as common as a Russian comma.?
Page 270

Once you get used to his zany punctuation, the book flows right along and becomes a quick, enjoyable read. I?d recommend it to those of you have been to Russia.