Once in Kazakhstan: The Snow Leopard Emerges

by Keith Rosten

Soon after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Keith Rostenleaves the United States to be a Fulbright Lecturer in newly-independentKazakhstan. In Once in Kazakhstan, Rosten drawsa sometimes humorous portrait of a critical period in the emergenceof this Central Asian country, interweaving the challenges andexhilaration of living in Kazakhstan with the historical backdropof a nation grappling with its independence.From horse heads in the Central Market, to guns on the skislopes, and to the first-ever parliamentary elections, Rosten takesyou on a whirlwind tour of the country. He vividly recounts thechange in currency from the Soviet ruble to the tenge and travelswith a candidate for parliament to a rural village near Semipalatinsk.Using his knowledge of local language and customs, Rostenprovides access to native sources on the history, politics, traditions,and spirit of Kazakhstan. Complete with photographs of thepeople, places, and monuments of the country, Once in Kazakhstanis an invaluable resource for anyone who is interested in learningmore about, or traveling to, the fascinating landscape of thisemerging nation.

Genres: Kazakhstan, Travel

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2005

Reviews

[Olga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book very much. People who are interested in what happen during USSR perestroika will gain knowledge of what it was like during those times for Kazakhstani, and what would it be like for a foreigner to live there. Mr. Rosten shares his personal experience during his living in Kazakhstan with objectiveness and humor. His observations show Kazakhstan’s way to “democracy”. Reading Ones in Kazakhstan brought a lot of Déjà vu of experiencing perestroika in Russia when I lived there.
This book was very well written. It has black and white photos along with descriptions of the photos. It was very interesting to see how people of Kazakhstan lived and looked like.

[Liz Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Equal parts travelogue and history book this is a quick and fascinating read. The author provides quite a bit of in-depth and insightful information about Kazakhstan from the early 90’s until their end with the hopes of its future. The only thing I would have liked more of is the author’s adventures versus less about politics or more of him as adventures while he learned about the politics to break it up a little.

[Griffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fucking Peace Corps, but I'll get there some day.