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Ðóññêèé English
Question: The beginning of your novel is rather interesting. Is it true? If so, was this based on your personal experience?
Answer: Absolutely and unequivocally, no, it did not happen to me. The unfortunate incident I described actually occurred with a client of mine, an English gentleman who is still living in Kiev. We see each other occasionally at various receptions around town, but we don’t talk about it. His new wife wouldn’t take it well.
Question: What about Lena, Jack Parker’s girlfriend? Is she real?
Answer: Yes, actually Lena is real. The character in the novel is based entirely on my lovely wife. We first met at Falk’s old restaurant in Podol, called Arizona Bar-B-Q, over a semi-friendly game of pool. Later I learned that she was number two person at a well-connected cigarette distribution company. One of my clients was trying to take it over, you see, and I was sent over to negotiate the deal. That’s when Lena and I ran into each other for the second time. We started dating after that. Now, some ten years later, here we are, a married old couple with a 2.5 year-old son and a yellow Labrador.
Question: How about Sasha? What happened to him in real life?
Answer: Sasha was a real-life fighter from Alfa unit of the KGB, except that I changed his name. After coming home from Afghanistan, Sasha worked full-time as a bodyguard for one of the Ministers. That job didn’t pay well, so he supplemented income on the side by protecting businessmen against the racketeers. A few years later Sasha switched from Alfa to a full time job of offering protection and collecting debts on contingency basis. This eventually led to a shoot-out, leaving Sasha blind in one eye. After that unfortunate incident he had to leave Kiev for a while, so without hesitating Sasha packed up his gun and went off prospecting to Hamburg, Germany. I heard that he did pretty well in that port town. A few months ago I saw him strolling down Kreschatik, sporting a black suit and dark sunglasses. I’ll probably invite him out for a few drinks one of these days, just to hear some of his stories.
Question: What about General Kurkov? Does he still run the protection company, ProServe?
Answer: It’s not his real name, of course, but the old man actually lives in Moscow, where he still working as chief of security for a group of people who own a few casinos, some restaurants and a couple of parking lots. And I have to stress that these persons are not criminals, which is rare, considering the nature of their businesses. Unlike many other businessmen, they were lucky to keep what they owned. How, exactly, did they succeed? By hiring a retired ex-General of Customs of former U.S.S.R.. In exchange for a decent salary and a lavish, Mercedes-quality lifestyle, the General assembled for them first-rate personal army by recruiting former soldiers with experience. After that, nobody, including the notorious Chechens, could touch these owners. They are still alive and doing well, thanks to the General.
Question: Any other projects in store?
Answer: Right now I’m editing my father’s letters. He wrote them over a twenty year immigration journey, from Kiev to Vienna to Rome to St. Louis, Missouri. That way, my son will know all the details about his family’s immigration experience.
Question: Let’s change the topic. What kind of music to you like?
Answer: In the 70’s it was the Beatles and John Lennon. I even have the original “Two Virgins” album in a brown paper sleeve! In the 80’s it was The Clash, Boomtown Rats and Billy Joel. In 90’s, while living in Kiev, I got hooked on Vladimir Vysotsky’s songs of love, adventure and crime. Now, in this modern age of Madonna and techno-crap, I prefer Andrei Makarevich. My wife and I saw him in concert recently, and it was a spectacular performance. The audience was jumping on their seats, literally.
Question: Any favorite books?
Answer. Well, I really liked “The Last King of Scotland” by Giles Foden. It’s a real-life tale about a savage dictator called Idi Amin Dada, written by his personal physician. I also enjoyed JM Coetzee’s award-winning novel, “Waiting for the Barbarians.” Best of all, however, was Phoolan Devi’s page-turning autobiography, “The Bandit Queen of India.” Each one talks about what really takes place on some God-forgotten corner of the world. Together, they made me write about “Life on the Outpost,” a surrealistic combination of existence in post-Soviet society and modern-day America
Question: Sounds like heavy reading. How about something happy?
Answer: Sure, on a lighter note, I can recommend everything ever written by Ilf and Petrov, and especially their classic, “One-Story America.” More recently, I finished the massive 950+ page work of art called “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts, a great adventure story with philosophical twists plus brilliant writing, too. Currently I’m on “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” by Anthony Perkins. The premise is interesting, but the book stretched my credulity to the maximum.
Question: Any other hobbies?
Answer: My wife and I love to travel. In May, Lena arranged for a jungle tour through Northern Thailand. We trekked through bamboo forests, lived with the tribes in mountain villages. As a result, we value civilization more then we ever did before. And I also like to cook, especially on cold and rainy days. When we lived in San Francisco, I would visit a local library, photocopy a few exotic recepies and then lock myself in the kitchen for a few days. In the winter, my wife prefers hearty oxtail soup
, but she also likes French bouillabaisse
. Personally, I prefer pho
, a delicious, aromatic Vietnamese noodle soup. As appetizers go, my all-time favorites are the crab cakes
. For the main course, I’d take a good old fashioned Italian meat lasagna
anyday. On special occaisions, like New Years Eve, I make my favorite Persian dish, pistachio-stuffed leg of lamb
. You’re welcome to drop by, incidentally.
Next: the author talks about backgrounds of Jack Parker, Sergei, Alexei, and other characters.
© 2007 Alex Frishberg
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