He grew up in Moscow and in 1980 came to the United States, where he and his family settled in New York City.
He attended Stuyvesant High School, Oberlin College and Columbia University.
Young Heroes of the Soviet Union, his family memoir, was named a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice and excerpted in The New Yorker.
Ben Folds and Nick Hornby cited it as an inspiration for their collaborative album Lonely Avenue.
He has received fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and Art OMI at Ledig House.