Summary

In Part I, “Lessons in Russian Literature,” Chapter 1, Lara and her mother Yevgenia arrive at Oasis Mobile Estates in California. When Yevgenia emerges unrumpled from her conversation with the park manager Carlos, or Papa Bear, Lara realizes Yevgenia is “serious about the place” (8). While “haggling over the rent,” Yevgenia is “at her most Russian” (10). She came to the States in the 1980s. Although Lara does not want to live at Oasis, she has no choice. Ever since Yevgenia stopped leaving her with “Acquaintances from [her] various jobs,” Lara has been “yoked” to her (11).

Yevgenia and Lara secure an Oasis trailer. Lara lugs “the blue suitcase” into their new space (15). She hates the suitcase, “what it represents” and what it contains (15). It is filled with Yevgenia’s notebooks, which hold Yevgenia’s “edicts, philosophies, and communiqués, mostly regarding sex and men...