“Well?” he demands, eager for an argument. Imperiousness is our only weapon and we use it to good effect, refusing to acknowledge his pronouncement. Tatiana and I regard him with every bit of disinterest we can muster. There are ways to make a man like Semyon feel small. You look at him with pity—it’s far more effective than disdain. You cooperate with his demands but in a way that makes him feel you’re only doing so because he is weak and must be cosseted. The goal is to make him hate himself for being a man unworthy of respect. We learned all these techniques in the years we spent in the
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