Uri Norwich

Russian Jews Don't Cry: the Forth Rail of Being Uri Norwich

Only one man cannot fall asleep at that late hour on board of Chinese jumbo jet. It seems that the entire universe found peace with itself, slowly revealing unfamiliar constellations behind dark window. Something is bothering him ? usually a sound sleeper, he didn?t require much to drift away, but not on that night. At first, he doesn?t know what it is? and then, then he realizes what he is waiting for. Maybe, it is all just a dream? The border patrol officer stamped my Exit Visa with a big blue stamp ? ?Released!? Indeed, I was released from the most Evil Empire. I was released from slavery. I was released in the Free World ? stateless, penniless but free. The sweetest release of them all! I didn?t care at that moment about tomorrow. I didn?t care that I only had eighty dollars to my name, some clothes on my back, and a couple of suitcases. One thing I knew for sure I would never be a slave again. If reality can turn into bizarre fantasy, and the fantasy can morph back into reality, then a twilight transition may exist somewhere on the way. This is where reside rare and virtually unknown slices of life of the Soviet Union, Israel, Italy, and the last wave of the Soviet immigration, seen through the prism of one man?s imagination. The story is written as told by a young man in his twenties, bouncing around the world as a set loose boat, trying to find his place in it. He hits the biggest jackpot of his life and lets it go away so easy. The Author had lived through and experienced firsthand situations and places reflected in the book. Author lives in a New York City suburb, still enjoying every moment of novelty being a free man, even after so many years.