This prizewinning memoir is an unforgettable story of a young boy's dangerous, adventurous westbound trek along the railways of postwar Russia. On his way, Stepanych befriends a blind runaway, falls in with a gang of train burglars, witnesses an ancient beer-brewing ritual in a northern Russian village, learns the craft of fire-building from a Siberian hashish smuggler, and masters the art of tattooing from a former Japanese War prisoner. Lacking even basic means to sustain himself, the boy exhibits the type of resourcefulness and inner strength that allow him to triumph over peril and hardship. And most of all, this future artist hones the observant eye that will later enable him to vividly recount for his readers those several years of his long, obstacle-filled journey home.

This prizewinning memoir is an unforgettable story of a young boy's dangerous, adventurous westbound trek along the railways of postwar Russia. On his way, Stepanych befriends a blind runaway, falls in with a gang of train burglars, witnesses an ancient beer-brewing ritual in a northern Russian village, learns the craft of fire-building from a Siberian hashish smuggler, and masters the art of tattooing from a former Japanese War prisoner. Lacking even basic means to sustain himself, the boy exhibits the type of resourcefulness and inner strength that allow him to triumph over peril and hardship. And most of all, this future artist hones the observant eye that will later enable him to vividly recount for his readers those several years of his long, obstacle-filled journey home.