(Hardcover with dust jacket) Nominated for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize - General Non Fiction "Black captures the harsh conditions, the stern babushky, the bone-chilling Siberian winter juxtaposed with the generosity and warmth of the Russian people." -The Dallas Morning News "From the Russian Mafia to the politicians and the retired surgeon who found it hard living on her $14 a month pension, Black provides avenues of concern, laughter and shear delight." -The Minneola Monitor Randy Black's collection of warm, inspiring, heart-touching and sometimes humorous stories chronicles and brings to life Russians as they confront the painful thawing out process from their 75-year communist deepfreeze. Black taught those he met along the way about life as he knew it outside of Russia and learned about the meaning of life as a foreigner in a foreign land.