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Siberia Bound: Chasing the American Dream on Russia's Wild Frontier
Siberia Bound Chasing the American Dream on Russia's Wild Frontier Author:Alexander Blakely "The risk of living in Siberia made everyday life precious. Hangover or not, I was always glad to wake up in Siberia. Here, in this place with a horrific history and an unknown future, life was urgent without being frantic." Fresh out of college with a degree in economics, Alexander Blakely is drawn to frozen, desolate Siberia by the promise of... more » love and the idealistic urge to bring capitalism to the former Soviet Union. What he finds in Siberia is an unexpected romance, an opportunistic Russian business partner and a new free-market system manipulated by the same people who drove the crumbling communist system into the ground. He and his partner bluff their way into a fledgling import business and build a multimillion-dollar company, dealing in trainloads of "little luxuries"-everything from condoms to cocoa beans. In his four years in Siberia, Blakely comes to adore the people and the place-the simple pleasures, leisurely pace and loyal friendships forged amid frigid temperatures and long, vodka-soaked nights. But as success impacts those around him, the lure of capitalism changes the Siberia he loved. Materialism and comfort-the very things he rejects at home but promotes abroad-arrive in Siberia, with profound and disturbing costs. Siberia Bound is a compelling tale of business on capitalism's wild frontier. Haunting, sometimes shocking and often hilarious, it is a stunning portrait of the "new" Russia.« less