“How can I expect people who don’t know anything about Russian history to understand what is funny about it?”
American writer and veteran expatriate Jennifer Eremeeva asked herself this while writing her very funny book, Lenin Lives Next Door: Marriage, Martinis, and Mayhem in Moscow (Small Batch Books, 2014), a witty examination of life in today's Russia that knits together vignettes of cross-cultural and expat life with sharp observation, colorful historical background, and engaging humor.
Eremeeva’s answer to her own question? To quickly pen a second book (ebook, that is) to act as a nonfiction companion to Lenin Lives Next Door. To wit: Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia, an entertaining, informative, and decidedly brisk stroll through the history of the world’s largest country, complete with mini profiles of Russia’s terrible, great, and overall alpha-male (and sometimes female) leaders.
“You should imagine Russian history,” suggests Eremeeva,“on a huge, 3D IMAX screen, surround sound booming with a jumbo bucket of popcorn in your lap and huge blue drink at your side.”
