Dark Days, White Nights: A Short Novel and Shorter Fiction

Dark Days, White Nights is an assortment of long and short fiction, and a photo essay on winter and summer in Russia. Beginning with a hybrid novel and memoir detailing the experiences of a Fulbright fellow living in the Karelian Republic of Russia for nine months during 1999-2000. He doesn't speak Russian, can barely read Cyrillic, but easily slips into the social customs of his university colleagues and friends. The dinners and parties, accompanied by endless offerings of vodka, sauna sessions, and romantic interludes, are set against the cold bureaucracy, decaying infrastructure, and frequent miscommunications with colleagues. Temptations are many, and the lifestyle is comfortable. He questions whether he should stay or return to the US. Where is home?Other offerings include a horror story centered around a professional exterminator, a woman undergoing a persistent and mysterious surveillance, an observation on luck and its consequences, a fantasy about a magic relic, and much more.