The Final Resting Place of the Russian Mafia

Our new issue is on newsstands and in mailboxes (or beach bags or bathrooms or wherever it is you do your _flossing). This week we'll be sharing a few excerpts from the cover story, "The 50 Most Interesting Places in the Space-Time Continuum," by Jenny Drapkin and Ethan Trex, plus a few places that ended up on the cutting room floor.

12. The Final Resting Place of the Russian Mafia
Russian gangsters rarely display restraint, even in death. Since the 1990s, mob bosses from Yekaterinburg, Russia, have gone to the grave in style, employing artists to carve garish, life-size portraits of themselves on their tombstones. The images often depict the mobsters sporting leather jackets and smoking cigarettes while hanging out in front of their enormous mansions. And in addition to the standard "Beloved Husband" and "Cherished Son" epitaphs, many of the gravestones mark the skills that made the mobsters so successful in life, such as "Expert in the Use of Knives." Of course, the real players don't stop there. Some gangsters will chip in for additional monuments to their favorite girlfriends or cars. Regardless of how much they spend, one thing's for sure—they all plan on living large in the afterlife.

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