Now I was watching my teen-age children-who were fifteen and twelve at the time-go through that shock. The most difficult and, in some ways, the most rewarding thing I’ve ever been through was emigrating as a teen-ager. The bizarre thing was that it was an emigration for the rest of my family, and especially for my teen-age kids. So, in 2013, it was an emigration for me, but it was also a kind of homecoming. I do a very good impersonation of an American-I went to high school here-but I’ve spent most of my life in Russia. Masha Gessen: You and I both came to this country as kids, but I was fourteen and you were six. Keith Gessen: In late 2013, because of various unpleasant developments in Russia, you moved from Moscow to New York, after being away from the U.S. Keith’s most recent book is a novel set in Russia, called “ A Terrible Country” Masha’s most recent book is also about Russia, a work of nonfiction called “ The Future Is History.” The Gessen siblings often have differing views on their native country at last year’s New Yorker Festival, in a rare joint public appearance, they interviewed each other about Russia, writing about Russia in a strange moment in Russian-American relations, and about emigration and growing up with the same set of parents in two countries. Both combine teaching and writing, often for this magazine, where Masha is a staff writer. Between the two of them, the siblings Masha and Keith Gessen have written more than a dozen books and more than a thousand articles.
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