"Welcome to Gradieshti, a Soviet village awash in gray buildings and ramshackle fences, a home to a large, collective farm and to the most oddball and endearing cast of characters possible.
For three years in the 1960s, Vladimir Tsesis―inestimable Soviet doctor and irrepressible jester―was stationed in a village where racing tractor drivers tossed vodka bottles to each other for sport; where farmers and townspeople secretly mocked and tried to endure the Communist way of life; where milk for children, running water, and adequate electricity were rare; where the world’s smallest, motley parade became the country’s longest; and where one compulsively amorous Communist Party leader met a memorable, chilling fate.
From a frantic pursuit of calcium-deprived, lunatic Socialist chickens to a father begging on his knees to Soviet officials to obtain antibiotics for his dying child, Vladimir’s tales of Gradieshti are unforgettable. Sometimes hysterical, often moving, always a remarkable and highly entertaining insider’s look at rural life under the old Soviet regime, they are a sobering exposé of the terrible inadequacies of its much-lauded socialist medical system."
"All in the Family, Doctor Included is a work of love and dedication that honors the human spirit at all ages. Vladimir Tsesis once again brings us poignant moments, cozy chuckles and sage advice from his busy pediatrics practice.
Dr. Tsesis speaks about the importance and the beauty of the American family and its glorious triumphs over the dramatic predicaments facing modern society. Both humorous and serious, it is dedicated to the contemporary American family in search of purpose and meaning in the modern world."
"'Children universally take it for granted that their parents love them and will never abandon them. Not by bread alone—children need not only food, water, and shelter but also a loving family to provide these things to them. Dealing with a child not only as a patient but also as a person helps a pediatrician become a part of the flowing river of life with its constant stories, the content and complexity of which are many times more fantastic and thrilling than the most sophisticated science fiction novel.'—from the book"
