A food and travel writer, Sharon Hudgins has taught for the University of Maryland University College in Germany, Spain, Greece, Japan, Korea, and Russia. Hudgins currently resides in McKinney, Texas, with her husband, Tom.

Sharon Hudgins has written a vivid and engrossing book about a part of the world that's both geographically and ethnically complex. She's done much to make the unfamiliar familiar. - Larry McMurtry; ""Rare is the person who can step into the wonderland of Siberia and capture the culture and spirit of its people. Sharon Hudgins has done that and more. This is a warm, considered, and completely engaging work from start to finish... a window into the soul of Siberia."" - James Cramer, President & CEO, World Learning; ""... an animated examination of grim, grimy, and unpredictably gracious ordinary life in the extraordinary place she calls Absurdistan."" - Alfred Friendly, Jr., coauthor, Ecocide in the USSR, and former Newsweek Moscow Bureau Chief