Indeed, internal criticism of the USSR from a Marxist perspective has been a continuing fact of Soviet life for decades. While [Joseph] Stalin held sway, this criticism was limited to clandestine and fugitive expressions, circulated orally or in samizdat.

The roadmap, he asserted, was a guide, a starting point. It was not cast in concrete and not likely to be the ultimate solution.

To convince the Frenchman it was a good idea, he sketched a potential month's activity on a page of a grid-lined workbook showing Gentzbourger getting 50 percent of the profits, minus operating expenses, while Feeney got the other 50 percent.

Reading about the life of St. Francis of Assisi had sent a thundershock to Julia's psyche.