Tuesday, December 24, 2019

A Drunk in Russia

[Gennady] Yanayev, who was probably making sure the mark was still in place, was the worst sort of Party nonentity. He was a vain man of small intelligence, a womanizer, and a drunk. I'm not sure it is possible to describe just how hard it is to acquire a reputation as a drunk in Russia.

-David Remnick in Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire