Wendell Steavenson spent two years in Georgia - a land at the farthest edge of Europe, beyond the Black Sea; at the cross-roads of history, Islam, Christianity, and the Silk Road. Stories I Stole captures the exuberance of the nation's two separatist regions, eight nationalities, five languages, vast mountains, desert monasteries, ancient vineyards, wine, song, blood feuds, bandits, and poetry. From President Shevardnadze's rigged elections to horse races high in the mountains, from the eerie roadside artifacts of the Soviet era to the farcical power outages in the dead of winter, here is Georgia: weird, invigorating, and still coming to grips with the legacy of its most famous son, Joseph Stalin.<BR>Steavenson's is a scintillating collection of stories peopled by vivid - and sometimes insane - characters. In the beach resort of Sukhumi, once the destination of every fashionable Russian but now wrecked by civil war, Wendell plays hangman with a secret policeman. In the capital, Tbilisi - ensconced in Levan's Magic Room or lounging in the steam baths - she hears about the latest duel or kidnapping. In Khevsureti, the meadows are dotted with blue-painted beehives and yellow flowers, while just over the border there is war in Chechnya. And in the midst of it all, she falls in love.