Acknowledgments

This book—not to mention every other aspect of my life—would not have been possible if my parents, Genrikh and Nelly Sivorinovsky, hadn’t decided to leave the Soviet Union in 1976.

I thank them for bringing me to America and for understanding when I wanted to be a writer—and not a computer programmer.

Thanks to them and to the Khait family for their stories, many of which appear in this book. Any errors are my own.

Thank you to my brother, Martin, who speaks my language, and to his wife, Rachel, who doesn’t mind when we do—endlessly.

Thank you to my in-laws, who opened my eyes to a whole new America.

Thank you to my agent, Allison Hunter, who said, “You obviously know how to write, so go ahead and just write this story.”

Thank you to my editor, Sarah Stein, who took that writing and made it readable.

Thank you to my children, Adam, Gregory, and Aries, who contained their emergencies to when I wasn’t writing.

And thank you to my husband, Scott, who is the answer to the question, “How can a woman have it all?”