Sharon Hudgins has written a vivid and engrossing book about a part of the world that's both geographically and ethnically complex. She's done much to make the unfamiliar familiar. - Larry McMurtry; ""Rare is the person who can step into the wonderland of Siberia and capture the culture and spirit of its people. Sharon Hudgins has done that and more. This is a warm, considered, and completely engaging work from start to finish... a window into the soul of Siberia."" - James Cramer, President & CEO, World Learning; ""... an animated examination of grim, grimy, and unpredictably gracious ordinary life in the extraordinary place she calls Absurdistan."" - Alfred Friendly, Jr., coauthor, Ecocide in the USSR, and former Newsweek Moscow Bureau Chief