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 2nd Edition: 296 pages; index; softcover; in English; $14.95; Hippocrene Books, Inc., New York; ISBN 0-7818-0832-4 A revealing look at the matrimonial struggles these cross-cultural couples face across daunting political, economic, psychological, and ideological divides. The book reaches back in history to the first decades after the Bolshevik Revolution, covers the nearly half a century of the Cold War, and includes stories of contemporary marriages after the fall of the USSR. In response to the hundreds of letters, phone calls and e-mails that poured in from couples who read the first edition of this book and wanted to share their own stories, Dr. Visson has expanded Wedded Strangers with new material, including a chapter on marriages resulting from the phenomenal growth of agencies and Internet sites that introduce American men to Russian women. Another chapter deals with contemporary young couples who choose to live in both Russia and the United States. A third chapter is devoted to the results of these marriages: a new generation of Russian-American children. An author, interpreter, and academic who has worked with top Russian officials, Lynn Visson is an American of Russian background who herself is married to a Russian. Her stories are about the nitty-gritty of commitment: finding a spouse, sex and sex roles, money, in-laws, jobs, homemaking, notions of beauty and expectations about intimacy, as well as the challenges surrounding adaptation to another culture, a befuddling terra incognita. "One thing no American married to a Russian seems to have complained of is boredom," says the author.
“ . . . a witty, open-minded, utterly fascinating exploration of cultural differences on
everything from friendship (Russians talk, Americans don’t) to sex (vice versa!).”
"Visson's easy writing style and extensive use of personal interviews and
memoirs make this book a highly readable and enjoyable choice for both
scholarly interest and pleasurable reading."
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