The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy

Author’s Note

Every nonfiction book is difficult in its own way. The difficulty with reporting this book was fear. People were afraid to talk to me because they had been questioned harshly by the FBI, because they believed they were in personal danger, because they feared bringing trouble to those they cared about, and because they had been disappointed by seeing their words quoted in simplistic, sensationalist, and misleading reports. I am grateful to those who placed their trust in my project in spite of these deterrents. This includes several people whose help was invaluable but who have asked not to be named in this book or to be acknowledged as sources.

In addition to them, and to those whose names appear in the book, I am thankful to the people who helped me grasp the context of the events I was describing.

In and about Dagestan: sociologist Alexei Levinson, anthropologist and my former colleague Konstantin Kazenin, the brave and inventive Dagestani journalist Zakir Magomedov, and especially Grigory Shvedov, human rights activist and editor of kavkaz-uzel.ru. Asya Tsaturyan and Nikita Bezrukov were my Moscow hosts extraordinaire: I got a room of my own and a set of Dagestan connections.

In and about Kyrgyzstan: my research assistant in Tokmok, Alexandra Ryabova; University of Colorado Boulder doctoral students Caitlin Ryan and Austin Cowley; and especially their teacher Elizabeth Cullen Dunn, now a professor at Indiana University. Elizabeth’s expertise was invaluable, but her encouragement and understanding of this project were worth even more.

In and about Boston: Nick and Ruth Daniloff; Graham Fuller; ACLU Massachusetts staff attorneys Jessie Rossman and Sarah Wunsch and Privacy Rights Coordinator Kade Crockford, who has followed the Boston Marathon bombing case doggedly and seemed never to tire of explaining the intricacies to me. My Columbia MFA Writing Program intern Elina Mishuris systematized conspiracy theories and tracked down far-flung leads. Melissa Ludtke helped me with contacts and advice, as did Krystyna Colburn and Ellen Todres Gelfand, both of whom also gave me shelter. Svetlana Boym did what she does best, which was challenge everything I have to say and tell me to read Hannah Arendt. Julia Zagachin was the person who instructed me to drop everything and write this book.

Several journalists shared information with me generously: Alan Cullison of The Wall Street Journal, Simon Shuster of Time, Fatima Tlisova of the Voice of America, and the great Bruce Gellerman of WBUR.

I have been fortunate, at Riverhead, to work with the best team in all of publishing. I think that Becky Saletan might like me more than she likes deadlines, and I hope to God that never changes. My agent, Elyse Cheney, is the best advocate a writer could have.

Vera Shengelia tracked my every move when I was in Dagestan, and then handed this tedious task over to her husband, Ilya Venyavkin. In fact, they’ve had my back for years. And nothing I do would be possible without Darya Oreshkina, who gives me both my home and my freedom. She also made the maps for this book.