Born Romain Kacew in Moscow 8 May 1914, Romain Gary spent the first fourteen years of his life in Russia and Poland. His mother, Nina Kacew, an actress and the daughter of a Russian-Jewish watchmaker, managed a millinery shop. Her husband, Lebja Kacew, was probably not Gary's father; he left his wife shortly after the child's birth. Although Gary never liked to discuss his father's identity, his recent biographer Dominique Bona theorizes convincingly that he was the son of the actor Ivan Mosjoukin. In Russia Nina Kacew's millinery business failed, and she and her son moved to furnished rooms in Warsaw. An ambitious, self-sacrificing woman, she prodded her son constantly and sought to direct his life. Despite her precarious financial situation, Kacew arranged for her son to have lessons in many areas in order to determine where his talents lay. His mother did not want him to become a painter...