Chapter 17 Summary

As fear about the future grows among the Soviet people and the economy suffers severe decline, Anatoly Kashpirovsky becomes a national hero or savior for the common Soviet. The Communist's Party's state-run television begins airing Anatoly's "tele-seances," in which he heals millions of people via the airwaves. Desperate and hopeless, millions of Soviets tune in regularly. While Anatoly becomes very rich and very famous, millions of his viewers remain poor, sick and disillusioned. Most critics believe that Anatoly is tool of the Communist Party to distract the public from their real problems.

Chapter 17 Analysis

History is full of unsavory characters that prey upon the downtrodden when they are at their weakest. In 1989, the Soviet people were weak. After seventy years of terror and lies and several years of digesting the truth, these people, who had every aspect of their lives controlled for them...