Welcome to Litsy!

I picked this up at the National Book Festival after hearing the author speak. The son of dissidents who fled the USSR, he traveled to Russia to work as a TV producer, documenting feel good stories while observing the darker undercurrents of power, money and oppression in the years preceding Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. A fascinating and prescient glimpse of individual lives against the backdrop of Russia's return to authoritarianism.

This book was published in 2014 right after Crimea annexation and it reads a bit like a prequel to today‘s horrors. It‘s written for a Western reader and in general I didn‘t find a lot of new information, but it did help me to fill some gaps (I left Russia 20 years ago and never lived there as an adult). And some things that were true back then didn‘t change. It‘s a good primer, even if sometimes the book structure felt somewhat shaky.

This looks promising. #backintheussr #rockinmay

Authoritarianism and simulation, "reality TV" and "democracy", this book explores the New Russia. It's a more readable "Secondhand Time", for those that would like a wide taste of Russia and the corruption inside Moscow.

Ebook deal alert! This year is becoming more and more about Russia, and the first book has insights. On the right may be an interesting extension of #marchinmarch reading! #blameitonlitsy #tbrtuesday

Russia is so hot right now.

This was really interesting- and a bit disturbing.