Publishers Weekly
"Sharp, fast-paced...a fascinating glimpse inside the world of newsgathering and of contemporary Russia."

The Boston Globe
"Told against a backdrop of political upheaval w/ a cast of characters as extraordinary as in the court of Versailles."

Caroline Leavitt, The Boston Globe, 9/19/2004
"An engagingly intimate voice... The story of their ill-fated relationship is told against a backdrop of incredible political upheaval."

The San Francisco Chronicle, 9/12/2004
"She offers an interesting, if dark, account of the strange and dangerous places intemperate passions can lead us."

The New York Times Book Review
"Troubled lovers cling together in a sea of vodka & drugs in this journalist's memoir...simply riveting."

Book Description
In January 1998, while the rest of her newsroom is chasing the Monica Lewinsky story, television journalist Jennifer Cohen gets a lead that takes her out of covering that scandal and deep into another one—the trafficking of sex slaves from the former Soviet Union into the United States. Knowing that the college crush she never quite forgot works for a St. Petersburg newspaper, she hires him to help out. Much to their surprise, they fall madly in love over thousands of miles of telephone line. Within weeks, Cohen finds herself engaged to marry a man she barely knows and on a plane to Russia. No one could have predicted the total collapse that followed—of the Russian economy, of her fiancé's sobriety, of Cohen's mental health and physical safety, and of her professional aspirations. Cohen's vivid descriptions of her life in anything-goes Moscow—bribing government officials, meeting pimps in back alleys for interviews, being told by her boss to perpetuate American clichés about Russia in her pieces—are a colorful counterpart to the despair and loneliness that replaces the love between Cohen and her betrothed. Their battles with prescription drugs, alcoholic rages, and physical abuse are recounted with perspective and wit, offering a smart, poignant, and unvarnished look at a complicated relationship in a complicated land.

From the Inside Flap
"Riveting. The love story is wistful, funny, and wise, woven into a moment in history, also seen with a candid and revealing eye. This is an original—a fresh voice, a great read, a memorable coming of age story."—Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice and The Birth of Pleasure "Jennifer Cohen writes fearlessly about love, betrayal, and self-discovery in the fresh setting of an expat in post-communist Russia. Anyone who has fallen for the wrong person, or sought adventure, will be captivated by this tale of a young woman learning to become herself amid the swirls and intrigues of Moscow and St. Petersburg."—Michele Mitchell, author of The Latest Bombshell "Cohen's Russia is soaked in cigarette smoke, vodka, and sex for hire. She reveals the underside of Russian life, both in its day-to-day decay and the more sensational world of crime and corruption."—Tzivia Gover, author of Mindful Moments for Stressful Days Terrace Books

About the Author
Jennifer Beth Cohen is an award-winning producer for CBS News/The Early Show and a writer based in New York City and Washington, D.C. She has been a news producer, documentary filmmaker, and a freelance journalist, and her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, New York, Maxim, and Allure. This is her first book.

Excerpted from Lying Together: My Russian Affair by Jennifer Beth Cohen. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The officers of St. Petersburg's anticorruption task force were ridiculously underpaid, if they were paid at all. To make ends meet, or even overlap, some guys developed the habit of confiscating items from crime scenes. Evidence. The evidence was stored in the back of their headquarters and periodically sold off or even given away to potentially helpful personages. The short story is that, instead of a Tiffany box, my ring came wrapped in a tiny Ziploc bag, the kind the dealers use when selling pot or crack. It had slipped quite easily off the whore's rigid finger and onto my shaky one.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In January 1998, while the rest of her newsroom is chasing the Monica Lewinsky story, television journalist Jennifer Cohen gets a lead that takes her out of covering that scandal and deep into another one—the trafficking of sex slaves from the former Soviet Union into the United States. Knowing that the college crush she never quite forgot works for a St. Petersburg newspaper, she hires him to help out. Much to their surprise, they fall madly in love over thousands of miles of telephone line. Cohen finds herself engaged to marry a man she barely knows and on a plane to Russia. No one could have predicted the total collapse that followed—of the Russian economy, of her fiance's sobriety, of Cohen's mental health and physical safety, and of her professional aspirations.

Cohen's vivid descriptions of her life in anything-goes Moscow—bribing government officials, meeting pimps in back alleys for interviews—are a colorful counterpart to the despair and loneliness that replaces the love between Cohen and her fiance. Their battles with prescription drugs, alcoholic rages, and physical abuse are recounted, offering a poignant and unvarnished look at a complicated relationship in a complicated land.

SYNOPSIS

Cohen is an award-winning producer for CBS News and a writer based in New York City and Washington, D.C. In this memoir, she recounts her experiences as a journalist leaving the U.S. in 1998, chasing a sex-slave story and engaged to a former college friend living in Moscow. Juxtaposed against the difficult evolution and eventual breakdown of her personal relationship is the tale of her experiences working as a foreign journalist in post-Soviet Russia. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

A. George Schillinger - The New York Times

Cohen's language remains as journalistic at the end as it was at the beginning, but when she's describing the Dostoyevskian decline of her romance, her tale becomes simply riveting. Which raises a curious question: are the great Russian writers really novelists? Or might they just be gifted journalists, uncannily skilled at recording the irrational realities of their perverse land?

Publishers Weekly

It's January 1998, and TV producer Cohen learns of the trafficking of Russian women into the U.S. to work as sex slaves. To help cover the story, she hires Kevin, a Russian-based journalist she hasn't seen in years but who happens to be the object of her longstanding, college-era crush. This sharp, fast-paced book chronicles how Cohen chases down the story (and Kevin) and details their ensuing disastrous relationship. She's swooning over him instantly, via their e-mails, even before she's traveled to Russia to begin covering the story; and although it takes her almost 200 pages to realize she's made a bad choice, readers will see red flags well before, when one of Cohen's friends cautions her to slow down. Plus, the author's admission that she's bulimic and on Prozac hints that her judgment might not be clearheaded. Still, Cohen offers a fascinating glimpse inside the world of newsgathering and of contemporary Russia. However, Cohen's apologies for Kevin's erratic, hurtful behavior get tedious: "Give me a little affection and I forgive. Give me a lot of affection, I forget." Even at book's end, it's hard to tell whether she's eliminating him from her life or letting him hover in the background, thereby keeping her from healing herself. Agent, Stephanie Kip Rostan. (Sept. 15) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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