Got this wishlist book for ??? (it's still a secret)

Sending this today in a package for the US Secret Santa exchange. Happy Holidays!

Thank you so much for this wishlist book, included in a lovely package from the US Secret Santa exchange! I look forward to reading it. Thank you for all the other goodies as well.

Loved this memoir of growing up in the Soviet Union. Gorokhova's writing is a delight to read, and the subject matter is a personal interest of mine. Having visited Leningrad/St. Petersburg in 1991, during the final days of the Soviet Union, and again in 1993 with all the changes (including the city's name :-), I could identify with a lot of the text.
From her falling in love with the English language at age 10 and learning it without her strict mother's full approval, to her strong desire to emigrate to America, to the means by which she is able to do so and the soul-searching involved in her decision - it's all here, in beautiful prose with a good dose of humor.

My first visit to Leningrad was during the wonderful "White Nights" in June, so I got a kick out of this passage, where her mother catches her returning from a date (with an American, no less) at 4 a.m.:
I tiptoe into the hallway of my apartment around four in the morning, when the sun has crept past the cupboard and is glinting on the kitchen stove. In her ghostly nightgown, my mother is shuffling toward the bathroom, her hair, mussed by sleep, slithering down her back in a skinny braid..."What are you doing up so late?' My mother squints in my direction..."Where have you been?'" The light beams in her eyes as she lumbers closer. "It's the middle of the night," she says, shielding her face from the sun.
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Another thing that struck home: when Elena is quitting her job before leaving for the U.S., she has a kind of exit interview with her boss:
"Where are you going in America?" he asks, leafing through papers on his desk.
"Texas."
"Ah, the land where they kill presidents."

In the early 1990's I met some visiting Soviet/Russian astrophysicists in Boston and took them sightseeing. They were going to travel to another part of the country and learned that they would have to change planes in Dallas. One of them said, "the only thing I know about Dallas is that's where President Kennedy was shot."

Interesting to see America through another person's eyes! Especially someone raised during the Cold War.

Recommended.

Propped up on a ledge in front of True North Coffee at about 11:45. Hope the finder enjoys it!

Released for Wine+Food+BookCrossing Release Challenge hosted by GoryDetails.
Released for 4 Elements Challenge hosted by Firegirl.
Released for Oh, the Places We Can Go Release Challenge hosted by Secretariat. Mountain is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. The population was 92 at the 2010 census.

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