Lali, I may have mischaracterized the book. I've started into the articles and they seem to be as much (or more) about people and attitudes and historic events as they are about the places he's visiting. His first article was about Soviet-era avant-garde artists during the first Sotheby's auction in Russia, when Gorbachev started opening up the country to the West. I have zero interest in avant-garde art, but it didn't matter - the story kept me interested.
There was also a short, newly written section at the end about how things are now in the avant-garde art world in Russia, under Putin. (grim, of course)
Frelga, he does cover a wide range of topics, doesn't he? He's a professor of clinical psychology, which does make sense as far as the book on depression and maybe the one on families. (Though I think the idea for the one on families probably came as much from his own situation as from his work - he's apparently gay and married, with children) But he knows how to write for a non-academic audience, with a light touch.
Edit: After reading a bit more, I've decided that if I were ever in charge of assigning a book to incoming college freshmen for a group read, this book would be high on my list. The published pieces are very good, with a sense of humor here and there, and the "how things are now" sections are also exceptional so far. For the first time, I understood why Pussy Riot chose to protest in an Orthodox church and how subversive that was for the Putin regime. Or just how deep the corruption runs in Russia now and how pervasive the penalties are for dissent about Ukraine.