Nicolai Lilin's story of hunting and tribalism under an authoritarian state draws a strange crowd who seem more interested in what sort of bullets he's carrying and where his tattoos are, than in the content of his writing.

Lilin himself performs well in Q&A, especially considering that English is not his native language. I felt that the author, his agent (who was apparently present as a translator, though there was very little translation going on) and the chair could have done more to focus on the realities of community life in a former Soviet country and the people who inhabit it, rather than giving endless time to inane questions.

The author, a journalist who currently lives in Italy, writes about the dark side of politics, organised crime and paedophilia amongst the present-day Russian elite, in a manner which has earned him death threats and requires him to travel with an escort. I was hoping to get a glimpse of Lilin's reliability, but unfortunately I was unable to sift through the chaff and get to the heart of the matter.

When describing the traditions of his home country of Transnistria, a small place between Moldova and Ukraine where an outsider requires a local escort and where the main industry is weaponry, Lilin draws us a potentially intriguing picture of the oral traditions in a community who have learned not to trust authority.

The storytelling tradition, Lilin tells us, is mainly passed along the generations by men. Women in the community are called upon to negotiate with the police when the need arises, apparently because of the belief that women, according to the author, will not betray the community because of their maternal need to protect. The notion of hunting in the Siberian tradition as a spiritual, and yet practical ideal rang partially true, though I suspect a bit romanticised.

I'm disappointed by the event. The author touched on several compelling and controversial subjects, but unfortunately didn't explore these - possibly because of a language barrier, but more probably because the entire event veered more toward a cabaret version of post-Soviet life than a satisfying or balanced view of reality.