Deeply reported, enthralling ... One of a handful of recent books whose ultimate subject is nostalgia for a country overtaken by authoritarianism ... Many will never return, their sense of alienation from Russia only deepening with time, along with their nostalgia. Gershkovich won’t be welcome back anytime soon either.
The story of this arrest and sham trial, but also an account of his impressive reporting efforts in the years before his detention ... This memoir is immensely readable, with Gershkovich’s personality, humour and journalistic instinct shining throughout it ... Gripping, courageous and important.
A bleak picture, but not entirely ... At the poignant heart of this book is the author’s bond with his cellmates (who, for their safety, he presents as a composite figure, Seryoga). Though he initially feared Seryoga was an informant, they became improbably close and mutually supportive, playing backgammon and watching movies on their cell TV ... So this tale of punishment without a crime turns into an offbeat love story.
Surprisingly detailed ... A product of two cultures, Gershkovich thinks of himself as both Evan the American and Ivan or “Vanya” the Russian. This makes him an astute observer as he chronicles the arcane rules that govern prisoners’ behaviour and attempts to learn not only about their lives but also those of the staff, including his FSB interrogators.
Warm, funny, and remarkably perceptive, this is far more than a prison diary—it is a deeply human portrait of a country Gershkovich can neither idealize nor stop loving ... A vivid and often tender portrait of Russia that transcends the conventions of a prison memoir.
