The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories by Anthony Marra

Still in Russia.  Still in Chechnya.  Still crazy good writing.  These  nine stories are connected by characters, a painting and the Siberian landscape.  After the first few pages, I was prepared for another deeply sad, beautifully written deep dive into a dark part of Russian/Ukrainian history.  It took me couple of beats to realize that I was smiling at his sarcastic humor.  This book is funny - dark - but funny. Half way through I created "A Constellation of Vital Characters".  I am really done with his take on Russia but oh so ready to hear more of the voice that writes "We imprint our intimacies upon atoms born from an explosion so great it still marks the emptiness of space." I mean, really.