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Now available for preorder:
The San Francisco Panorama.
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Copyright 2003 The Economist Newspaper Ltd.
- - - - SECTION: BOOKS & ART LENGTH: 346 words HEADLINE: An American abroad BODY: "LIKE medicine or pornography", says Tom Bissell, "Uzbekistan is a subject in which a person is either deeply versed or utterly ignorant." In the mid-1990s, Mr Bissell taught English as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan. He left after seven months, physically broken and having lost his mind. A few years later, still haunted by the country and the feeling of failure, he returned to Uzbekistan to write an article about the disappearance of the Aral Sea. His visit, however, ended up involving a lot more than that. Hence this book, which recounts a road trip from Tashkent and Samarkand to Bukhara, Ferghana and finally Karakalpakistan, the semi-autonomous province where millions of lives have been devastated by the slow drying up of the sea. It is the story of an American travelling to a strange land, and of the people he meets on his way: Rustam, his translator, an endearing 24-year-old who picked up his colourful English in California, Oleg and Natasha, his hosts in Tashkent, his Peace Corps Uzbek family, and a string of foreign aid workers. This is a glimpse of life in Uzbekistan, made of hospitality and warmth, but also its darker side of pervasive corruption, poverty and brutal security forces. In Samarkand, Mr Bissell marvels at the architectural wonders, while on his way to Bukhara he gets a taste of police methods when suspected of drug trafficking. In Ferghana, he attends a mountain funeral followed by a surreal drinking binge. And in Karakalpakistan the desolation of dust storms, rampant tuberculosis and fishing boats stranded miles from the sea, is poignant. Mr Bissell seamlessly weaves in historical insights and cultural references, making his tale a well-rounded snapshot of Uzbekistan, seen from western eyes. His measuring scale and references are decidedly American, as well as his fragile stomach. As the author explains, this is neither a travel nor a history book, or even a piece of reportage or a memoir. Whatever the genre, the result is a fine and elaborate mosaic in the purest of Central Asian traditions. GRAPHIC: An American in Uzbekistan; Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia. LOAD-DATE: August 8, 2003 - - - -
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