Price of Freedom

Recreating his lowering experiences as an immigrant in Manhattan, Golyakhovsky emerges as more sympathetic than the preening personality met in Russian Doctor, his memoir of life as a well-connected orthopedic surgeon in Moscow. At age 50, and with high expectations, Golyakhovsky arrived here accompanied by his fretful wife, Irina, sullen son, Junior, his hearty mother and ailing father who has since died. The stresses of their lot took a toll, with Irina working as a clerk until finally being able to return to her field of research science, and Junior struggling through college and admission to medical school. The author, who lagged far behind his family at learning English, wrote for a Russian-language newspaper, broadcast on Radio Liberty, composed his memoirs, crammed for medical certification exams, became a hospital technician and then a first-year resident, but failed to find an advanced residencyand had a love affair that threatened his family life.If Golyakhovsky's self-importance in considering his every moment worthy of recording is tiresome, his harsh encounter with the promised land proves so affecting that we weep with him a little when he becomes a citizen and begins to feel at one with us. (September 29)