Lately, I often think that most of the general inability of foreigners to comprehend contemporary Russia stems from a sort of cultural cognitive dissonance. Namely, Russia gets intellectually matched to Tolstoi, Dostoevsky, Chekhov and the like. Which is very nice if you are an academic, or if you want enrich your own cultural base - all worthy causes, no doubt there. But if you want to try and grasp the nature of what's going on now, think Vonnegut Jr. Or if you want a native, try Pelevin from contemporaries or Saltykov-Shchedrin for the more historical (but quite pertinent) view.