A few weeks later, Richard was killed accidentally while busting a wild mustang […]

One line of steps we traced from the spot to the haw-haw; they were very distinct upon the turf; the heel was toward the haw-haw, the toe toward the spot where the murder was committed.

Samizdats were unauthorized books reproduced with a typewriter and as many as seven carbon copies. They were the product of the country's artistic elite and were critical of the government. Possession of, writing, or typing a samizdat could and occasionally did result in arrest and the perpetrator being sentenced to a gulag. This was mostly an illusion. The writers and distributors of samizdats were seldom at risk after the death of Stalin.

a regular flower; a regular sea urchin