Siberia Bound: Chasing the American Dream on Russia's Wild Frontier

by Alexander Blakely

Recounts the adventures of an American entrepreneur in Siberia, where he and a Russian partner built a multi-million dollar company, and offers insights into the life in Novosibirsk.

Genres: Biography Memoir, Travel, Russia, Business, Nonfiction, Memoir

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2002

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little known book detailing the story of an economist who moved to Russia just after the fall of the Soviet Union to do his own experiments in capitalism. If you have any interest in politics and economics I really recommend this one.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorite books! The images and cross cultural experiences made me feel like I was living all the adventures alongside the author. Hilarious, poignant, thought provoking.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel remiss in not adding this to my Books Read, since it is one of my favorites, but it was long before I joined Good Reads. The son of a friend wrote it and did a program at my library when it was published. I found it fascinating and think of it often as a reference point to the wild west times in Russia after the Soviet Union broke up and entrepreneurs rushed in to capitalize on the new freedoms to engage in business. It's also a love story about how Zander met his Russian wife and what it was like living in the frozen outpost of Novosibirsk.

I noticed that the summary on Goodreads does not match the book, which is a travesty. Here is the review from Pulblsher's Weekly (I used to buy books for B. Dalton, before going back to being a librarian. Sourcebooks was a new publisher at the time, and I have been impressed with the quality of their books since then):

"In 1991, Blakely joined a legion of young American college graduates flocking to Russia in search of adventure and money. What sets him apart from his many expat peers who have written about their entrepreneurial escapades is a natural gift for storytelling and a rare ability to translate the specificities of a foreign culture. With a degree in economics (MW note: from Swarthmore) and a crush on a Siberian pen pal named Katya to guide him, Blakely chooses Novosibirsk as his base for sharing his vision of capitalism with the Russian masses. The frozen university town is no more primitive than the political and cultural capitals of Moscow and St. Petersburg when it comes to crafting a business plan or setting up a joint venture. Nor, it turns out, are there any fewer willing participants to undertake the unknown. Soon Blakely finds himself at the head of a large chocolate as well as latex glove concern, in which profits and supplies tumble around as randomly as the balls of a lottery draw. Blakely eventually realizes that the "pursuits of happiness" are fruitless when you don't count costs. Looking around at the unhappiness and unhealthiness that besets his colleagues, he notes, "We, the lucky few who had prospered during the economic chaos, had paid too high a price for the success." That is the somber truth for many who ventured into the speculative wilderness of Russian-style capitalism, but doesn't ring true for Blakely, who returned with wonderful memories, a soul mate for a wife and an admirable first book. "

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic little memoir and a lesson in economic models. Alexander Blakely with his degree in economics moves from the US to Siberia in 1992. He spent four years there living among her people and observing what happened up close after the fall of communism and rampant capitalism and consumerism took hold. He had a bird's eye view of what happened in Russia during this brief period when the walls came down and right before the globablization of the Internet.

The book is entertaining and Blakely has some spot on observations about the good and bad in free markets and the tradeoffs between comfort and happiness. At the end of the book which published in 2002 Blakely gives an update on his friends. Now, I would really love to have a sequel from a decade on.

You will like this book if you like:
*memoirs
*travel
*business and economic theory
*enjoy oral histories
*read Russian literature

[Claire Binkley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am conflicted whether to rate this high since I used so much of the information from this book for my tale and I greatly appreciate the author's economic insights, or to rate this low since it praises the free market's splendour so adamantly and it remarks on how poor the command economy turned out for the former Soviet Union.
So it ends in-between.

I suppose I should rate this high considering current events. But then again, he writes to the ignorant American money-craving audience, and the CPUSA probably would dislike the bottom line from this prose.

Compared with most memoirs I've read this is a very good book, more exciting and answering more questions.
Compared with Marx and Lenin I think he doesn't encourage as much further political, economic or international research, which makes me not want to recommend it, even if it could prove useful to people who don't care about Russia or travel or taking over the world or government or economics for one of the other reasons. (Or it maybe not.)
Compared with Anna Karenina I think this book leaves a better taste in the mouth, though it may not be as important to read since it's not really world literature.
Compared with the Cat in the Hat I think it's a little more boring since the pictures are black-and-white.
Compared with Hadji Murad I think it has a similar amount of research and experience behind it.

So, as far as Soviet/Russian research goes, this is just the experience of a foreigner, and it reflects many common assumptions such as everyone Russian has the same name, which is not true. (Many of the Ivans and Yuris I know are jerks. Not all, by any means, but it's a common attribute.)
My own name, Claire, is extremely common in the UK and in the scientific literature. (It means brightness or light or clarity)
Vladimir, which he isolates as what everyone is called, just means world-conqueror. [It carries similar connotations as Caesar.] Everyone wants to name their children hopeful appellations such as these.
What you do is more what matters than how people call you.

It could be useful for economic research, since Blakely IS an economist and he discusses this part of the world from an economic perspective, but that wasn't my purpose in reading so I'm not sure.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another coming of age book, this time shortly after the fall of communism when a young economist moves to Sibera to discover Siberia, capitalism, and himself.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're interested in modern Siberia, this is a great book.